[comp.windows.news] Ports of Sun's NeWS

rbogen@dreams.EBay.Sun.COM (Richard Bogen) (04/13/90)

In response to bice@atlantis.ees.anl.gov asking about NeWS ports, here
is a message that was sent to this alias some time back. As the author
previous said:

"I make no claim about the completeness or correctness of this list..."

---
Lator,                           Satisfaction altogether Guaranteed by Doctor
                                 Tarr and Professor Fether...
Jeffrey B. McGough
WR-ALC UNIX Systems Administrator                    (mcgough@wrdis01.af.mil)

------List Follows------

NewScript, a NeWS interaction clone for MS/DOS by TAG inc.
Technology Application Group inc.
10621 Bloomfield St., Suite 33
Los Alamitos, CA 90720  USA
213 430-9792 
NewScript(tm) is a compact, high performance emulation of the NeWS,
for 286 and 386 machines running DOS or OS/2(tm). NewScript offers
an interactive user interface design environment for the development
and prototyping of NeWS compatible graphical interfaces.
Perfect for PostScript and NeWS class teaching! NewScript is based on the 
PostScript language as defined by Adobe Systems Inc. with Events, 
canvases, monitors, processes, and object PostScript extensions specified
by NeWS. NewScript emulates a subset of NeWS and PostScript. CPS, 
network communications, and stroke fonts are not supported in version 1.0.

Non-Commercial Ports:

Columbia University
Department of Computer Science
450 Computer Science Bldg.
500 W. 120th St.
New York, NY 10027-6699
Contact:
Chris Maio
212 854-2736
NeWS port to HP workstation model 9000, Series 300

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Contacts:
Richard Phillips
David Forslund
505 667-5061
NeWS port to a Cray Supercomputer, model XMP-24

University of California at Santa Cruz
Computer Science Dept.
Santa Cruz, CA  95060
Contact:
Al Conrad
408 429-2370
Ported NeWS 1.1 to the Integrated Solutions Inc., model V8

Other Ports:

TGV has ported X11/NeWS to a VAXstation(tm) 2000 running VMS. Productization
and distribution arrangements are currently being addressed by Sun
Microsystems and TGV. For information contact Steve Messino, Windows 
Licensing Manager, at 415 960-1300.

Bundled Commercial Products:

Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Inc.
2011 N. Shoreline Blvd.
P.O. Box 7311
Mountain View, CA  94039-7311
415 964-1459
NeWS 1.1 ships with all Silicon Graphics Workstations.

Unbundled Commercial Products:

NeWS/2 for OS/2 by Architech
80 E. 11th St., Suite 222
New York, NY  10003
212 979-5337
NeWS is up and running on OS/2! Networking to other machines on
your LAN Manager net is just like using your own machine now!

PNeWS for Sun VMEbus machines by Parallax
2500 Condensa St.
Santa Clara, CA  95051
408 727-2220
PNeWS is a NeWS port extended to deal with live video! Using 
display systems from Parallax, any NTSC signal can be fed into
a window on your Sun workstation, for display or digitizing.

MacNews for A/UX on Apple Macintosh by Grasshopper Group
1996 Hayes St.
San Francisco, CA  94117
To order: 408 266-4783 
Technical Support: 415 668-5998
MacNews is a full NeWS port, running on Apples UNIX port
with full Berkeley TCP/IP networking. MacNews Version 1.1.10
supports standard Macintosh color displays. Runs in 4 megabytes
of RAM. Version 1.1.10 runs only on A/UX version 1.1, MacNews 1.1.01
runs only on A/UX 1.0. Shipped on floppies. 
Price: MacNews 1.1.10, $300. MacNews 1.1.01, $225.

NeWS for SunOS by Sun Microsystems Inc.
I2550 Garcia Avenue, 
Mt. View, CA 94043  USA
415 960-1300
The original NeWS port is for Sun Workstations. It is available
>from Sun for $125, including the binaries on tape cartridge or reel-to-reel,
NeWS manual and installation instructions, and the Adobe PostScript 
Reference Manual and tutorial.


cd From susan@gotham.East Wed Sep 20 16:46:09 1989
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 89 18:19:46 EDT
From: susan@gotham.East (Susan A. Bickford - NYC SE)
To: openwindow-interest@Sun.COM, todd@sunbird.Central
Subject: Re:  PC/NeWS
Status: R

    
> Is there a PC based NeWS implementation out there?


    NeWScript		NeWS on MS-DOS
    Technology Application Group
    Los Alamitos, CA
    (213) 430-9792
  
Up until about 5 months ago, I used to actively collect this stuff and
maintain the list below. I'm not sure how uptodate it is. The comments 
are not mine - just yanked from various messages on the net.

Susan

------------------------------------------

 

    Silicon Graphics:   NeWS (4Sight) SGI workstations
    Mountain View, CA
    Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Inc.
    2011 N. Shoreline Blvd.
    P.O. Box 7311
    Mountain View, CA  94039-7311
    415 964-1459
    NeWS 1.1 ships with all Silicon Graphics Workstations.


    PNeWS
    Parallax Graphics:  Video Windows via NeWS
    2500 Condensa St.
    Santa Clara, CA  95051
    (408) 727-2228

    Architech:     NeWS on OS/2
    Sal Catudella, Anthony Flynn, Maurice Ballick
    NYC
    (212) 979-5337

    MacNeWS
    Grasshopper Group:  NeWS on a MacII, A/UX
    Hugh Daniel
    1996 Hayes Street
    San Fransisco CA 94117
    +1 408 266-4783
    grasshopper@toad.com
    $225
     
    Wedge Computer, Inc. NeWS on a MacII, Mac OS
    2 Winter Street
    Waltham, MA 02154
    (617)891-1313

    Whitechapel   
    Workstations:       NeWS for Whitechapel Workstations
    London, England
 
    Acorn Computer:     NeWS for Acorn Computers
    Cambridge, England

    Raster Technologies:       NeWS for the GX4000
    Westford, MA

    Ameristar    
    Technologies:       NeWS for the Amiga 2000
    Long Island, NY

    Celerity:           NeWS client-side for Celerity
    San Diego, CA
 
    Alliant:            NeWS client-side for Alliant
    Littleton, MA

    Liason 42       Robert Esbury                    
    Unit 2 
    433 Miller Street
    Cammeray, New South Wales, 2062, Australia
    +61 612 922-7099

    University of California at Santa Cruz
    Computer Science Dept.
    Santa Cruz, CA  95060
    Contact:
    Al Conrad
    408 429-2370
    Ported NeWS 1.1 to the Integrated Solutions Inc., model V8

    NeWS on HP
    Chris Maio 212 584 2736
    Columbia University
    Department of Computer Science
    450 Computer Science Bldg.
    500 W. 120th St.
    New York, NY 10027-6699


    Cogent Research:	NeWS on a Parallel Processor
    Beaverton, Oregon
    97006-6998
    Wm Leler 503-690-1450

    NeWScript		NeWS on MS-DOS
    Technology Application Group
    Los Alamitos, CA
    (213) 430-9792

    Apollo NeWS:
	U of Michigan did a NeWS 1.0 port a while back.  It performs quite
	well on mono systems (only on mono, actually).  If you find yourself
	in a situation where demonstrating an apollo port would be of use
	(like in selling NeWS source), it's possible to get permission
	from U of M to show it. 
 

-------------------------------
The Grasshopper Group in San Francisco has a NeWS implementation for
the mac. It is retailing for 225$ (I think - it is not too pricey).
They have a booth at USENIX right now and it demos pretty nicely.
 
------------------------
Wedge Computer, Inc.
       2 Winter Street
       Waltham, MA 02154
       (617)891-1313
----------------------------
 
MacNews fro the Grasshopper Group
 
o Runs under A/UX 1.0 with A/UX supported monitors. A minimum of 4 megs of RAM
  and 5 Megs of disk is recommeded.
 
o MacNews release 1.1.01 is $225(U.S.) direct from the Grasshopper Group.
 
o Complete client source is included.
 
o NeWS servers from Sun, Silicon Graphics, WhiteChapel Workstations and Acorn
  Computers work with MacNews.

o To order call +1 408 266 4738 between 8am & 5pm PST or contact them via the
  net at grasshopper@toad.com
------------
 
There are three companies doing NeWS for Macintoshes today:
 
Grasshopper Group       Hugh Daniel
        212 Clayton Street
        San Fransisco CA 94117
        +1 408 266-4783
        grasshopper@toad.com
 
        They do NeWS for A/UX on Macintosh. Some excerpts from their
        brouschure:
        * Works with NeWS servers from SUN, Silicon Graphics,
          Whitechapel, Acorn
        * OPENLook will run under NeWS
        * "Complete client source is, of course, included"
        * run under A/UX 1.0 with A/UX supported monitors. minimum 4MB
          RAM and 5MB disk is recommended.
        * $225 for release 1.1.01
          extra machine on the same network $150
          extra manual $25

                           
Wedge Computer  Dick Bonsai
        2 Winter Street
        Waltham, MA 02154
        +1 617 891-1313

        They do NeWS for MacOS. I called them and they said
        they have "released" a beta-version with communicates with a
        SUN (yes it must be a SUN) via the seral line (no TCP/IP or
        netting so far). They are considering a TCP/IP version by the
        end of the year. The big release of the seral-line-version
        should be out by the end of this summer.

Liason 42       Robert Esbury                    
        Australia
        +61 612 922-7099
Contact Rob Esbury, Liason 42, Unit 2, 433 Miller Street, Cammeray,
                    New South Wales, 2062, Australia.


        They do NeWS for MacOS.  Due to time differenses (+9h) I have
        not been able to reach them. maybe someone else on the net (in
        Australia!)  could give it a try?
------------
 
a comment:
 
I used to work for Wedge when they were porting NeWS to the Mac under
MacOS.  I'd say that the product is reasonable, but it's slow.  This
is mostly due to the Macintosh itself.  Paricularly, if you wanted to
read something off the local (Mac) disk.  They did a multiplexor that
simulates sockets across a serial line.  Basically, a process on the
Unix machine (it can be any 4.2 BSD machine, it does not have to be a
Sun) accepts connections on a port and packetizes the data between the
Macintosh and the client machine over the serial line.  This works
rather well with NeWS, since most of the time, the volume of data
passed between client and server is not much.


There is nothing in 'product' form yet, but White Pine Software (P.O. Box
1108 Amherst, N.H. 03031, 603-886-9050) has a prototype they are working
on.  It has the requirements you are looking for (although it runs only on
a II currently, and uses Apples Ethertalk card, it could use other
communication drivers, and may run on other machines if there is demand).
 
Apple also has a server that runs under MacOS, but it is not an announced
product, and may or may not be released.  I saw a demo at Xhibition, but
Apple wasn't free to discuss what was going to be done with it.
 

------------------------------

Cogent Research:	NeWS on a Parallel Processor
Beaverton, Oregon
	97006-6998
Wm Leler 503-690-1450
	
	We invited these folks down to a local graphics conference to show
	their version of NeWS, which has been adapted to run in a parallel
	processing environment.  Their box is transputer based;  they sell
	it, but the company is primarily geared toward research in parallel 
	processing at this time.  They're NeWS enthusiasts, although they
	don't have NeWS source yet.  Wm has a couple of papers out on their 
	NeWS implementation, and is currently doing some work on PostScript
	semantics for file systems and such.
	
	
NUT:		NeWS User Terminal
Sun Microstems
ESS group
	The fabled Atari port of NeWS has been redone as a prototype of
	a NeWS user terminal.  It runs in about 4MB (they're trying to cut
	that) and over an RS323 line from 2400-19.2Kb.  It performs
	acceptably;  at low Baud rates it takes a while to transfer the
	ps code over to run.  It's kind of fun to see things like CG3270
	run on an Atari, though.  They've done a 2 page scrollable display
	to get around resolution problems, and it works well.
	This isn't a product yet, and would not be competing with NeWS ports
	on existing machines (DOS, Mac, etc.).   They will be showing it
	at Connectathon this week.
	
Apollo NeWS:
	U of Michigan did a NeWS 1.0 port a while back.  It performs quite
	well on mono systems (only on mono, actually).  If you find yourself
	in a situation where demonstrating an apollo port would be of use
	(like in selling NeWS source), it's possible to get permission
	from U of M to show it. 

NeWS/2 for OS/2 by Architec
	+1 718 622 8577 FAX +1 718 622 9205
	850 Carroll St., Brooklyn, New York 11215 USA

	  NeWS is up and running on OS/2!  Networking to other machines on your
	LAN Manager net is just like using your own machine now!  Unfortunately
	OS/2 doesn't support TCP/IP yet, so it doesn't yet network to your
	Suns, Macs, etc.

PNeWS for Sun VMEbus machines by Parallax
	+1 408 727 2228

	  PNeWS is a NeWS port extended to deal with live video!  Using
 	display systems from Parallax, any NTSC signal can be fed into a 
	window on your Sun system, for display or digitizing.	
	 
MacNews for A/UX on Apple Macintosh by Grasshopper Group
	<tech@toad.com> <...!{uunet, sun, apple}!hoptoad!tech>
	Orders: +1 408 266 4783  Tech: +1 415 668 5998
	1996 Hayes St., San Francisco CA 94117 USA

	  MacNews is a full NeWS port, running on Apple's Unix port with
	full Berkeley TCP/IP networking.  MacNews Version 1.1.10 supports
	standard (reasonable) Macintosh color displays.  Runs in 4 megs of
	RAM, works best with more RAM, of course!  Version 1.1.10 runs only
	on A/UX version 1.1, MacNews 1.1.01 runs only on A/UX 1.0.  Shipped
	on floppies.
	Price: MacNews 1.1.10, $300 US.   MacNews 1.1.01, $225 USA

NeWS for SunOS by Sun Microsystems
	+1 415 960 1300
	Inquiries: 2550 Garcia Avenue, Mt. View, CA 94043 USA
	Orders:  call your local Sun sales office

	  The original NeWS port is for Sun Workstations.  It is available
	from Sun for $100, including the binaries on tape (cartridge or
	reel-to-reel), NeWS manual and installation instructions, and
	the Adobe PostScript reference manual and tutorial.  An outstanding
	value for $100!

NewScript, a NeWS interaction clone for MS/DOS by TAG inc.
	Technology Application Group inc.
	+1 213 430 9792  FAX +1 714 995 7980
	10621 Bloomfield Street, Suite 33
	Los Alamitos, California 90720 USA

	NewScript(tm) is a compact, high performance emulation of the NeWS
	window system, for 286 and 386 machines running DOS or OS/2(tm).
	NewScript offers an interactive user interface design environment
 	for the development and prototyping of NeWS compatible graphical
	interfaces.  Perfect for PostScript and NeWS class teaching!
	NewScript is based on the PostScript(R) language as defined by Adobe
	Systems Inc. with Events, Canvases, Monitors, Processes, and Object
	PostScript extensions specified by NeWS.  NewScript emulates a
	subset of NeWS and PostScript. CPS, network communications, and
	stroke fonts are not supported in version 1.0.
	
        Los Alamos National Laboratory
        Los Alamos, New Mexico
        Contacts:
        Richard Phillips
        David Forslund
        505 667-5061
        NeWS port to a Cray Supercomputer, model XMP-24
	


	NeWS related Products for MacNews
--------------------------------------------  

softquad Publishing Software  --  Product Summary
	+1 800 387 2777, +1 416 963 8337
	SoftQuad Inc., 720 Spadina Avenue,Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2T9
  
	Device-independent text and graphic processing
	for laserprinters, typesetters, and impact printers. 
	 
	Powerful and flexible, SoftQuad Publishing Software is a high
	performance derivation of AT&T's Documenter's Workbench, complete
	with troff, eqn, tbl, pic and grap processors for text, equations,
	tables, graphics and graphs.

	SoftQuad Publishing Software is a cost-effective solution for most
	publishing and in-house publishing tasks: manuals, reports, books,
	proposals, price lists, newsletters, and memos.  The software
	provides the tools to simply and methodically create macro formatting
	packages to produce typeset quality output, taking full advantage
	of the capabilities of all popular printing devices for those users
	who have neither the time nor the expertise to painstakingly design
	each page.

	Because of its heritage as a true building-block program within
	UNIX, SoftQuad Publishing Software can format and print text
	files from any source, including word processor, database and
	spreadsheet applications.  It can run alone or invisibly, behind
	other applications, to create fine quality, reproducible laserprinter
	output or inexpensive proofs which emulate the line and page breaks
	of high-cost typeset galleys.

	Features include typeface and point size changes, justification,
	centering, hyphenation, page and section numbering, multiple columns,
	proper character fit (kerning) and user definable hyphenation
	exception dictionary. Newly added features include bitmap inclusion,
	white lettering on dark background, and landscape printing.
	Detailed, readable manuals are included.  Screen previewers for
	NeWS and X-windows are also available for a variety of machines.

	SoftQuad Publishing Software is available for virtually all UNIX
	and MS-DOS computers, including, of course, the Apple Macintosh II
	and IIX running A/UX.


PostScript Clip Art Images from 3G Graphics
	+1 800 456 0234  +1 206 823 8198
	11410 N.E. 124th St., Suite 6155
	Kirkland, Washinton 98034 USA

	3G sells a growing line of over 200 pieces of PostScript Clip
	Art Images.  These images come on MacOS floppies that can be
	read with the A/UX 'hfx' toolbox utility into AppleDouble
	format files.  The data fork of the AppleDouble file (you can
	throw away the half that starts with a %) can be previewed with
	'paper'.  3G has graciously provided some sample images; they
	are viewable under the Demos => Previewer => Paper menu in
	MacNews 1.1.10.