price@DECWRL.DEC.COM (04/26/88)
> I think it's funny how the "public domain" X window system usually ends > up costing big bucks from the vendors who support it, while the > "proprietary" NeWS system costs $100 for Suns, $225 for Macs, etc. HP > charges $2100 for X windows! Seems to me that you missed the operative phrase here: *support*. The proprietary NeWS system indeed costs $100 for Suns. X costs *nothing* for Suns or DEC machines, or a host of others. What *does* cost is *supported* versions of the system, and the added software developed by the vendor which actually makes the whole thing useful. With basic X, and basic NeWS, you get a nice chassis, but you don't get the whole Porsche. Thats what vendors provide, and it costs money. sorry xpert, but I can't hold it back... ack! gag! groan! <FLAME ON!> It really bugs me to see some of the most talented people in the industry labor for *multiple* years to provide *free* X reference software for the workstation community, only to have members of that community yell foul! when those same people start offering *high performance*, *supported* versions of the system as a commercial product. If you don't want to pay for it, get the free stuff off the net, or from your friends. Start doing self-support, and developing all your own layered applications. Maybe then you will understand why software development and support costs money. <Flame off!> whew! pant! wheeze! ...sorry I couldn't hold it in... -chuck