ejk@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu (Ed Kubaitis) (02/09/91)
I recently ran into a problem involving my NCD 19 X-Terminal and the InfoExplorer X application running on IBM RS/6000 AIX 3.1-3003. Part of the problem is that InfoExplorer resets (and does not restore) the server font-path to include a directory that will be found on IBM AIX 3.1 systems. Another part of the problem seems related to its doing an "xrdb -load". This strikes me as unethical, or at least impolite, behavior in an X client. Shouldn't only the user or a display manager acting on the user's behalf mess around with server font paths and the resource database? ---------------------------------- Ed Kubaitis (ejk@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu) Computing Services Office - University of Illinois, Urbana
stolcke@ICSI.Berkeley.EDU (Andreas Stolcke) (02/09/91)
In article <1991Feb8.191904.14630@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, ejk@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu (Ed Kubaitis) writes: ||> This strikes me as unethical, or at least impolite, behavior in an X |> client. Shouldn't only the user or a display manager acting on the user's |> behalf mess around with server font paths and the resource database? Not only that, such action by the program may also be completely useless. Given that X is designed as a networking window systems, the font path might not even exist on the machine the server is running on! (Or is InfoExplorer clever enough to figure out whether the server is running on an IBM machine, too? I doubt it.) -- Andreas Stolcke stolcke@icsi.berkeley.edu International Computer Science Institute stolcke@ucbicsi.bitnet 1957 Center St., Suite 600, Berkeley, CA 94704 (415) 642-4274 ext. 126
dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (02/13/91)
In article <1991Feb8.191904.14630@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, ejk@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu (Ed Kubaitis) writes: |> I recently ran into a problem involving my NCD 19 X-Terminal and the |> InfoExplorer X application running on IBM RS/6000 AIX 3.1-3003. Part |> of the problem is that InfoExplorer resets (and does not restore) the |> server font-path to include a directory that will be found on IBM AIX |> 3.1 systems. Another part of the problem seems related to its doing an |> "xrdb -load". Neither of these are reasonable for the program to be doing. The font path stuff is a little more forgivable, since there's often no other way to easily handle special fonts. Too bad X doesn't have a way to create a font on the fly. On the other hand, nobody should ever "expect" a font to be in a specific place. As for the xrdb -load thing, that's very anti-social. Some people don't use xrdb in the first place, so this just screws them up. One of the Motif tests does (did?) this, and it's very annoying. Sadly, you may not be able to "vote with your wallet" in this kind of case, but at least the rest of us know to steer clear of InfoExplorer X for the time being. -- ...David Elliott ...dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce ...(408)944-4073 ..."His lower lip waved poutily with defiance..."