wayne@cs.odu.edu (09/23/89)
OK, I have a tall order. I am in search of a couple of demo/utility
programs for a Geology teacher. A simple or complex graphic demo of Plate
Tectonics/ sea floor spreading. Next a program which may be used for
correlation of rock stacks. (The technical name escapes me at the moment)
Also, this is for me, does anyone know if X windows exsist for a PC?
Wayne
PS: If anyone knows of a strong geological school on the network,
could you give me a name and possibly an ftp address.
---> Sometimes I have evil thoughts......
---> GC. gordon@boulder.Colorado.EDU (GORDON ALLEN R) (09/25/89)
In article <10017@xanth.cs.odu.edu> wayne@cs.odu.edu () writes: > > OK, I have a tall order. I am in search of a couple of demo/utility >programs for a Geology teacher. A simple or complex graphic demo of Plate >Tectonics/ sea floor spreading. Next a program which may be used for >correlation of rock stacks. (The technical name escapes me at the moment) >Also, this is for me, does anyone know if X windows exsist for a PC? > X-windows does run but on 386 class machines under Unix. Some versions of Unix will allow MS-DOS applications to run as well. Allen Gordon
tuna@athena.mit.edu (Kirk 'UhOh' Johnson) (09/25/89)
In article <10017@xanth.cs.odu.edu> wayne@cs.odu.edu writes: % % OK, I have a tall order. I am in search of a couple of demo/utility % programs for a Geology teacher. A simple or complex graphic demo of % Plate Tectonics/sea floor spreading. Next a program which may be % used for correlation of rock stacks. (The technical name escapes me % at the moment) Also, this is for me, does anyone know if X windows % exsist for a PC? In article <12043@boulder.Colorado.EDU> gordon@boulder.Colorado.EDU replys: % % X-windows does run but on 386 class machines under Unix. Some % versions of Unix will allow MS-DOS applications to run as well. actually, there are X windows packages that allow you to use MSDOS machines as X clients. (that is, you need some other machine to actually run the X application, but you can use your MSDOS box as a "terminal".) i don't remember any specific details on these packages at the moment, but i'm pretty sure one of them was even from IBM. if anybody's interested in more info, drop me e-mail or followup and i'll try and track down the details. kirk
pfratar@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Paul Frattaroli - DCS) (09/26/89)
In article <14625@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> tuna@athena.mit.edu (Kirk 'UhOh' Johnson) writes: >In article <10017@xanth.cs.odu.edu> wayne@cs.odu.edu writes: >% >% at the moment) Also, this is for me, does anyone know if X windows >% exsist for a PC? > >In article <12043@boulder.Colorado.EDU> gordon@boulder.Colorado.EDU replys: >% >% X-windows does run but on 386 class machines under Unix. Some >% versions of Unix will allow MS-DOS applications to run as well. > >at the moment, but i'm pretty sure one of them was even from IBM. > >kirk Hello, Yes, one is from IBM, my friend has it running on his model 70. ( He also has AIX for PS/2 386's and PC TCP/IP running also ). I think however, that you need MCA to run the IBM version and VGA and '386. It isn't bad, even having to run the X client on another machine, with your PC as the X Window Server. But, it is a bit cramped for space. Since X was designed for bitmapped screens, ( and most Workstations nowdays have resolutions on the order of 1152 x 948 ) the 640 x 480 of VGA just doesn't measure up ( and IBM wrote this so SVGA isn't supported since it isn't their standard ). Subsequently, some programs for X, that use an 1152 x 948 bitmap image will only display the top left quarter on a PS/2 ( for example xphoon ). Now, for the cost.... The microcomputer store here on campus sells X-Windows for the PS/2 for $181 ( CDN ). I am not sure however, if it runs under DOS or if you need AIX. Probably the latter. ( AIX sells for $671 ) You probably also need Ethernet, to connect to a remote host to run client applications. X does a lot of communicating between client and server, and even at 9600 baud it would be very very very sssslllloooowwww!!! And as for memory requirements, my friend has 4 Megs. in his PS/2 70, and there is still MAJOR disk swapping when running AIX and X and occasionally it hangs. All in all, I don't think it's worth it ( IMHO only ). At least not yet anyway, it is still young though. ....Paul F -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Frattaroli - Department of Computing Services University of Waterloo < pfratar@watshine.waterloo.edu > < pfratar@watdcsu.waterloo.edu >
gaf@uucs1.UUCP (gaf) (09/28/89)
In article <6381@watdcsu.waterloo.edu> pfratar@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Paul Frattaroli - DCS) writes: > >Since X was designed for bitmapped screens, ( and most Workstations >nowdays have resolutions on the order of 1152 x 948 ) the 640 x 480 >of VGA just doesn't measure up ( and IBM wrote this so SVGA isn't supported >since it isn't their standard ). Subsequently, some programs for X, that >use an 1152 x 948 bitmap image will only display the top left quarter on a >PS/2 ( for example xphoon ). Another company which makes an X server for PC's is Integrated Inference Machines (IIM). Their server is unique in that it runs as a client itself on Microsoft Windows. This means that you can run any graphics card and mode for which an MS Windows driver is available. Usually Super-VGA cards come with MS Windows drivers for their high res modes, so you can pretty much have your choice. It also means you can simultaneously run an X server and other MS Windows clients. Bring lots of memory, though. 4 Mb will probably do fine (we have 2 1/2, and that's about the minimum). Price is ~ $400. It will run with both smart and dumb Ethernet cards. Their address & phone is: Integrated Inference Machines 1468 E. Katella Ave Anaheim, CA 92805 (714) 978-6776 -- Guy Finney It's that feeling of deja-vu UUCS inc. Phoenix, Az all over again. ncar!noao!asuvax!hrc!uucs1!gaf sun!sunburn!gtx!uucs1!gaf
dmt@pegasus.ATT.COM (Dave Tutelman) (09/28/89)
In article <12043@boulder.Colorado.EDU> gordon@boulder.Colorado.EDU (GORDON ALLEN R) writes: >In article <10017@xanth.cs.odu.edu> wayne@cs.odu.edu () writes: >> >>... does anyone know if X windows exsist for a PC? >> >X-windows does run but on 386 class machines under Unix. Some versions of Unix >will allow MS-DOS applications to run as well. Too restrictive. There are a few companies (names escape me at the moment, but I think Locus is among them) that have an X-Windows SERVER that runs under MSDOS. However, they may need a 286 and/or expanded memory to give reasonable performance. And, of course, the client program is assumed to run on a separate (UNIX system) machine. Gordon may be right, if you're asking about being able to write X-Windows programs that run completely under MSDOS (that is, both the client and the display server on the PC). However, I saw a blurb a couple of months ago for a PC-based X-Windows. The blurb wasn't very detailed technically; I got the impression that it was a subset of the full X library, and that it didn't support the protocol (just a local implementation of the display, not a client/server architecture). Sorry about the lack of company names. I haven't given anybody enough here to solve their problem, just perhaps some motivation not to stop looking. Dave Tutelman
bill@polygen.uucp (Bill Poitras) (09/28/89)
In article <14625@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> tuna@athena.mit.edu (Kirk 'UhOh' Johnson) writes: > >actually, there are X windows packages that allow you to use MSDOS >machines as X clients. (that is, you need some other machine to ^^^^^^^ >actually run the X application, but you can use your MSDOS box as a >"terminal".) > >kirk The proper term for the PC "terminal" is the server, and the host machine is the client. Although that is backwards when compared to a file server/client model, that is the correct terminology. I have seen several X servers for the PC myself, and can give a little info. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM MEMORY AND IS NOT TO BE TREATED AS A PRODUCT REVIEW, OR FACTS ETCHED IN STONE. IF I MAKE A GROSS ERROR CORRECT ME FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT. Locus Computing - has a product called PC X-Sight. Its current version is 2.0 and costs $495(!!!!!-). It can use up to 16Mb of total system memory, and supports the Excelan 205 cards, 3Com cards (including the Micro Channel version), and some WD ethernet card. I believe it is X11R3 compatible, but don't hold me to that ;-) The graphics boards it supports is many, but all the non-standard (non-VGA/EGA) boards are monochrome. The highest resolution is 1240x400 (pretty good!)The number for Locus is (617)229-4980 (Massachusetts). Over all it looks like a nice product. AOh, I just remembered, it uses TCP/IP protocol for communications. Graphic Software Systems - has a product called PC-XView. Unlike the Locus server, it doesn't support extended memory, or X11R3 fonts. But they do have plans for a release very soon with both of those features. It supports the Excelan 205, and I believe any board that FTP Software's PCTCP package does (ie A LOT of boards). It does support DGIS graphics cards. These cards are very fast (special graphics hardware built in), and can do resolution of 1024x768x256. Once the new version (extended memory usage and X11R3 compatibility) comes out, this also will be a great product (now its just a good one :-) The number for GSS is (503)641-2200 (Thats in Oregon). This product also uses TCP/IP protocol. Digital - PC-Decwindows. Doesn't support extended memory, but it soon (Jan '90) will, runs with DEC's own PC ethernet card. The protocol is DECNET. That's all I know. Any questions, well you have the number for of the company's, don't call me :-)