dal@syntel.mn.org (Dale Schumacher) (10/11/89)
In article <3631@ast.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes: > Personally, I think a far better and more elgant solution would be > virtual screens. You simulate N terminals on one. When you hit > ALT-n, the contents of the screen and replaced by that of terminal , > and the keyboard is attached to terminal n. In effect, you are > timesharing the one screen into n windows. Again, the trick is > localize everything so that there are no tentacles all over the > place. It won't be easy. I mentioned this some 6-9 months ago, but nobody seemed to care at the time. I _HAVE_ implemented a virtual console scheme on the ST version of Minix. The interface is very simple, just CTRL+ALT+HOME to switch to the next virtual console. The number of consoles is compiled into the kernel, and each needs it's own screen image, but it works great. I didn't have much trouble controlling the "tentacle" problem. In fact, after discussing the design with Tony Andrews one evening, I wrote the code and had it working the next day. \\ / Dale Schumacher 399 Beacon Ave. \\ / (alias: Dalnefre') St. Paul, MN 55104-3527 >< ...umn-cs!midgard.mn.org!syntel!dal United States of America / \\ "What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, / \\ which is the exact opposite." -Bertrand Russell
ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (10/12/89)
In article <091089A6393@syntel.mn.org> dal@syntel.mn.org (Dale Schumacher) writes: > I _HAVE_ implemented a virtual console scheme on the ST version >of Minix. The interface is very simple, just CTRL+ALT+HOME to switch >to the next virtual console. The number of consoles is compiled into >the kernel, and each needs it's own screen image, but it works great. >I didn't have much trouble controlling the "tentacle" problem. If it is indeed relatively simple to do, I am all for it. I think the appropriate course of action is to wait for 1.4b (please be patient), and then see how hard it is to modify that version to add virtual screens. Since multiple user's are already supported, my naive assumption is that multiple screens will not be hard. Input should be trivial. There are already multiple input queues for multiple real terminals, so when a character arrives from the keyboard, the only change is adding a variable telling the tty driver which "line" it came from, not just assuming line 0. It is my hope that MINIX-PC and MINIX-ST will begin converging again at or after 1.4b. Things like multiple screens are really pretty device independent. Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)
mwjester@wsucsa.uucp (10/12/89)
In article <091089A6393@syntel.mn.org>, dal@syntel.mn.org (Dale Schumacher) writes: > > .... I _HAVE_ implemented a virtual console scheme on the ST version > of Minix. The interface is very simple, just CTRL+ALT+HOME to switch > to the next virtual console. The number of consoles is compiled into > the kernel, and each needs it's own screen image, but it works great. > I didn't have much trouble controlling the "tentacle" problem. In fact, > after discussing the design with Tony Andrews one evening, I wrote the > code and had it working the next day. Dale, could you post this???? Please? Max Jester Dept of Computer Science (Impoverished grad student) Wichita State U. # include <disclaimer.std>
7103_300@uwovax.uwo.ca (10/13/89)
It seems to me that rather than building virtual consoles into the kernel, a nicer solution is to put in the tools that are needed to make virtual consoles (or windowing systems, or whatever), namely pseudo-tty's and SIGWINCH, and let the console/window manager run as a user process. -- Eric Smith ersmith@uwovax.uwo.ca ersmith@uwovax.bitnet