halvard@solan.unit.no (Halvard Halvorsen) (02/16/91)
I've checked out some more about this - this text is from Unix System V release 4 : An introduction. page 890 -> THE OPEN LOOK GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE The OPEN LOOK graphical user interface was designed by AT&T and Sun to be a standard graphical interface for the UNIX system.It is the most complete and most full-featured of the GUI's available for the UNIX system. ... The OPEN LOOK GUI & SW that developers can use to create OPEN LOOK applications, as well as the X Window system, are included with Release 4. .... .. including a file manager appl. that you can use to perform file system commands by operating on graphic representations of directories and files. page 917 -> THE MOTIF GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE Another graphical user interface for the UNIX system is Motif, developed by the Open Software Foundation and based on work by Hewlett-Packard and Digital Equipment Company. ... Motif is built on the foundation provided by the X Window System. ... there are many important similarities between the two... Some differences between the Motif and OPEN LOOK include window appearance,specific details on mouse button assignments, how you move and resize windows, the use of certain keybord features and what applications are included with the system. Motif provides an xterm appl., but it does not include a file manager. from 'Deskset Environment Reference Guide' ( a Sun manual ) Chapter 1 GETTING STARTED This chapter introduces the DeskSet Environment for OpenWindows. The DeskSet Environment contains the following applications: o the file manager ... o the mail tool ... o the calendar manager ... o the text editor ... o the print tool ... o the tape tool ... way for you to archive & retrieve files using a streaming tape cartridge o the snapshot ... snapshots of regions,windows or the entire workspace o the shell tool ... o the command tool and console ... o the performance meter ... o the clock ... o the calculator ... o the icon editor ... o the binder ... check the default system bindings,to customize the visual display of icons in the File manager, and to specify the default print scripts for use with the print tool. These are applications that are included OpenWindows - which I presume would be correct to call ' a product based on OpenLook ' - and when it comes to OpenLook it seems like AT&T have both an OpenLook standard *and* an OpenLook product. Where the line between them is I do not know - but I bet some netters could clarify it ? Is OpenLook better than Motif ? Well I've used them both and I do not really matter - if you wanna discuss Motif vs OpenLook take it to comp.windows.x ... Sorry for mixing OpenWindows and OpenLook - but looking at picures of the File Manager in the System V book and looking at the OpenWindows one they look pretty much the same. But if this File Manager is defined *in* the Open Look GUI standard I do not know - it dont think it belongs there ... So maybe Commodore dont have made any decisions concerning which GUI to use ? They just ship a System VR4 - period. And that we will have the two GUI's on the Amiga as well - Motif and OpenLook ??? ... just as elsewhere in the unix world ... As to which of two is the 'most popular' - they both claim to be .... Could someone from C= answer what their policy ( if they have any ?? ) in this is ?? Will there be Motif support or not ? Will applications made be C= have the OpenLook GUI ? What do Commodore recommend Software companies to do - write their SW with OpenLook tools / Motif tools ? What are you guys working with SW for the Amy3000 UX doing ?? OpenLook ? Motif? none of them ?? halvard.
UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) (02/17/91)
I don't know "why?" but I learned some new stuff today that might help
clarify the discussion. One way to think about GUI's built on X, which
both Open Look (OL) and Motif (M) are, is to keep three concepts distinct.
There is a "client," which is X-lingo for the application program such
as a spreadsheet, word processor, or any other that needs to display on
a terminal and interact with a user.
Then, there is a "server" which controls the terminal screen, the mouse and
keyboard, and so on.
Then, there is a "window manager." The window manager is a special
client that is responsible for things like putting a border around the
window, processing the front/back gadgets, resizing, moving windows,
and so on. There is also a "toolkit" that will allow an application
program to create buttons, scrol text, and so on. The window manager
looks the way it does in part because of the toolkit it uses, and a
client may adhere to a window manager's look and feel by using the same
toolkit.
This gets interesting. You can change the window manager on the fly. The
look and feel of your windows changes, but the contents of the windows
remain the same.
Open Look is a window manager and some toolkits. Motif is a window
manager and some toolkits. If both are available on your *network* then
you can use either of them whenever you like.
lee