HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") (03/12/91)
Hi XPERTs, Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and was wondering if one exists. Thanks in advance for your assistance. Randy Hays Conoco Inc. Ponca City, OK
ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) (03/18/91)
In article <9103112137.AB17929@expo.lcs.mit.edu> HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") writes: >Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be >developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and >was wondering if one exists. None exist for MS-DOS, and none will. X Windows depends heavily on the ability to multi-task, and MS-DOS doesn't. I haven't read enough about Desqview/X to say whether it uses the Xlib programming model for applications it's running, but they say it uses the X protocol for it's display rendering and therefore "acts a a bridge between Unix and PCs" (paraphrased from their ads; means squat to me). But again, that's not DOS. What you could do if you're really looking for application source portability between PCs and Unix/X is to use an interface lib like XVT. Then it's really MS Windows on the PC, but that's not so bad. -- First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / ckp@grebyn.com \\ / / Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/
n025fc@tamuts.tamu.edu (Kevin Weller) (03/18/91)
In article <1991Mar17.180104.1653@grebyn.com> ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) writes: > What you could do if you're really looking for application source > portability between PCs and Unix/X is to use an interface lib like XVT. > Then it's really MS Windows on the PC, but that's not so bad. > -- > First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / > ckp@grebyn.com \\ / / > Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o > Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/ Why not just get Unix and X for the PC? Well, we've been using the terms "PC" and "Unix" somewhat loosely around here, haven't we? :-) Almost as if the two are mutually exclusive and MS-DOS is the only operating system for PC's! They aren't and it isn't. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin L. Weller /-------+--------------------\ internet: n025fc@tamuts.tamu.edu | aTm | GIG 'EM, AGGIES! | CIS: 73327,1447 (but I rarely log on) \-------+--------------------/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %SYS-E-BADOPSYS, Fatal system error, DEC VMS halting / "And now for something -SYS-I-GETUNIX, Replace with UNIX immediately! / completely different." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Monty Python
bill@polygen.uucp (Bill Poitras) (03/19/91)
In article <9103112137.AB17929@expo.lcs.mit.edu> HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") writes: >Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be >developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and >was wondering if one exists. Yes. The X window system has been ported to the PC. It is called DESQvioew/X. Desqview is a non-preemptive multitasking system which runs on all Intel based systems under DOS. You can develop X clients that run on a PC as well as on a distributed network. For further information you can contact Quarterdeck at: Quarterdeck Office Systems 150 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405 (213)392-9851 FAX: (213)399-3802
ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) (03/19/91)
In article <N025FC.91Mar17154641@tamuts.tamu.edu> n025fc@tamuts.tamu.edu (Kevin Weller) writes: >In article <1991Mar17.180104.1653@grebyn.com> ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) writes: >> What you could do if you're really looking for application source >> portability between PCs and Unix/X is to use an interface lib like XVT. >> Then it's really MS Windows on the PC, but that's not so bad. > >Why not just get Unix and X for the PC? > >Well, we've been using the terms "PC" and "Unix" somewhat loosely >around here, haven't we? :-) Almost as if the two are mutually >exclusive and MS-DOS is the only operating system for PC's! They >aren't and it isn't. OK, I'm guilty of assuming much about the original poster's intent that he didn't actually say. I did assume that he would know that, if he had enough RAM and enough disk and a 386, then he could run real Unix and X. I assumed that he was really interested in a way to write MS-DOS applications, using Xlib or Xt, on his 8088. I apologise. Incidentally, I'm writing this from a PC running Unix, so I did indeed know. But it's true that for many people, running Unix is not an option. -- First comes the logo: C H E C K P O I N T T E C H N O L O G I E S / / ckp@grebyn.com \\ / / Then, the disclaimer: All expressed opinions are, indeed, opinions. \ / o Now for the witty part: I'm pink, therefore, I'm spam! \/
CS727713%HKPCC.HKP.HK@mitvma.mit.EDU ("Stephen Wong ", Hong Kong Poly. - Computing Dept.) (03/19/91)
>In article <9103112137.AB17929@expo.lcs.mit.edu> HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy > L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") writes: >>Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be >>developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and >>was wondering if one exists. > >None exist for MS-DOS, and none will. X Windows depends heavily on the >ability to multi-task, and MS-DOS doesn't. > That's not correct. MSDOS is used by a lot of people using PC, but it is not the only OS anyway. There are a few Unix ported to run on PC (mostly for i386), such as SCO Unix, Interactive (ISC) Unix, ESIX, etc. All the above supports X windows system on PC. If you have one of the above operating system, you can port X application easily. Of course, then you are running these applications on Unix, but not under MSDOS! >I haven't read enough about Desqview/X to say whether it uses the Xlib >programming model for applications it's running, but they say it uses >the X protocol for it's display rendering and therefore "acts a a bridge >between Unix and PCs" (paraphrased from their ads; means squat to me). >But again, that's not DOS. > Desqview/X claims to support Xlib, and a lot of things, you can refer to Desqview/X's ads, a very good booklet was included in the PC Special Byte Magazine last year. But anyway, Desqview/X is still not there, let's see how good it will be! Desqview/X is running under MSDOS, as they claim in their ads. Moreover, in the booklet, Quarterdeck (the developer of Desqview/X) even claims MSDOS programs (assume text mode) can run in X windows, no matter a local machine or a remote machine! >What you could do if you're really looking for application source >portability between PCs and Unix/X is to use an interface lib like XVT. >Then it's really MS Windows on the PC, but that's not so bad. I can't see any XVT implementation for MSDOS, but by using a toolkit (such as XVT, Motif, etc.), it will not be too hard to port applications to different GUI. Regards, Stephen Wong. (cs727713@hkpcc.hkp.hk)
martin@saturn.uucp (Martin J. Schedlbauer) (03/21/91)
In article <1991Mar17.180104.1653@grebyn.com> ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) writes: >In article <9103112137.AB17929@expo.lcs.mit.edu> HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") writes: >>Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be >>developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and >>was wondering if one exists. > >None exist for MS-DOS, and none will. X Windows depends heavily on the >ability to multi-task, and MS-DOS doesn't. > I have seen and played with DesqView/X. It is a true implementation of Xlib R3 (I believe), Motif 1.0, and Open Look/XView. Quarterdeck has implemented sockets and other comm stuff needed by X on top of their multi-tasking version of DOS, called DesqView/386. It works and as far as I can tell it works surpringly well. To increase your chances of running Unix X programs (large memory model) you can use a 386 DOS extender. DesqView/X comes with many of the standard MIT clients. It does allow you to run DOS programs in X terms and even MS Windows at the same time. *Works fine with TCP/IP over a network. I saw them connect a Sun 3 and a 386 laptop using DesqView/X. ...Martin -- ============================================================================== Martin J. Schedlbauer | martin@saturn.UUCP | ...!ulowell!saturn!martin 8 Gilman Road | mschedlb@ulowell.edu | ...!uunet!wang!saturn!martin Billerica, MA 01862 USA | CIS: 76675, 3364 | /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
zazula@uazhe0.physics.arizona.edu (RALPH ZAZULA) (03/22/91)
In article <1991Mar21.030710.502@saturn.uucp>, martin@saturn.uucp (Martin J. Schedlbauer) writes... >In article <1991Mar17.180104.1653@grebyn.com> ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies) writes: >>In article <9103112137.AB17929@expo.lcs.mit.edu> HAYS%POGUN@dupont.COM ("Randy L. Hays, Ponca ATD, ETN 442-5073") writes: >>>Has anyone ported the X window system to the PC? Can a PC application be >>>developed that uses X as its display facility? I haven't seen one around and >>>was wondering if one exists. >> >>None exist for MS-DOS, and none will. X Windows depends heavily on the >>ability to multi-task, and MS-DOS doesn't. >> > >I have seen and played with DesqView/X. It is a true implementation of Xlib >R3 (I believe), Motif 1.0, and Open Look/XView. Quarterdeck has implemented >sockets and other comm stuff needed by X on top of their multi-tasking version >of DOS, called DesqView/386. > >It works and as far as I can tell it works surpringly well. To increase your >chances of running Unix X programs (large memory model) you can use a 386 >DOS extender. > >DesqView/X comes with many of the standard MIT clients. > >It does allow you to run DOS programs in X terms and even MS Windows at the >same time. > >*Works fine with TCP/IP over a network. > >I saw them connect a Sun 3 and a 386 laptop using DesqView/X. > > > ...Martin > > >-- >============================================================================== >Martin J. Schedlbauer | martin@saturn.UUCP | ...!ulowell!saturn!martin >8 Gilman Road | mschedlb@ulowell.edu | ...!uunet!wang!saturn!martin >Billerica, MA 01862 USA | CIS: 76675, 3364 | /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Has Quarterdeck given any hints as to what the pricing will be for DesqView/X? How about people who have DesqView right now, can we upgrade to DesqView/X? thanks, Ralph |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ralph Zazula "Computer Addict!" | | University of Arizona --- Department of Physics | | UAZHEP::ZAZULA (DecNet/HEPNet) | | zazula@uazhe0.physics.arizona.edu (Internet) | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | "You can twist perceptions, reality won't budge." - Neil Peart | |----------------------------------------------------------------------|
bill@polygen.uucp (Bill Poitras) (03/25/91)
In article <A30E1F9C031F000198@HKPVC.BITNET> CS727713%HKPCC.HKP.HK@mitvma.mit.EDU ("Stephen Wong ", Hong Kong Poly. - Computing Dept.) writes: [stuff about Desqview/X deleted] >I can't see any XVT implementation for MSDOS, but by using a toolkit (such as >XVT, Motif, etc.), it will not be too hard to port applications to different >GUI. First of all, there is an XVT implementation for DOS XVT/Win. Second, there is an XVT port planned for use by Desqview/X. It will be based on the Xlib toolkit, and will have the Open Look look and feel. It is based on Xlib because the intrinsics based toolkits (like Motif and OLIT) add some overhead. So for sake of efficiency they used just a Xlib XVT. None of this is official. It is not announced as far as I know. +-----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------------+ | Bill Poitras | Polygen Corporation | {princeton mit-eddie | | (bill) | Waltham, MA USA | bu sunne}!polygen!bill | | | FAX (617)890-8694 | bill@polygen.com | +-----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------------+