*BSD News Article 66262


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From: michael@memra.com (Michael Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX)
Date: 17 Apr 1996 01:31:45 -0700
Organization: Memra Software Inc. - Internet consulting - http://www.memra.com
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References: <4ki055$60l@Radon.Stanford.EDU> <jdd.829261293@cdf.toronto.edu> <yfglok14n5r.fsf@time.cdrom.com> <31702487.420C2193@lambert.org>
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In article <31702487.420C2193@lambert.org>,
Terry Lambert  <terry@lambert.org> wrote:

>1)	It's the "control panel" option on your "Start" button
>	menu.

How about, your "X" button menu as in the Macintosh Apple Menu from where 
MS borrowed the idea of a start button. It should have the official X logo
bitmap on the button.

>2&3)	Click "Display" in the "control panel" window to pick
>	your color pallette, fonts, etc.

>5)	The editor is that dumb program that acts like the
>	Netscape editor when you click on text files (or you
>	can run it by picking "create new text file" from the
>	"start" menu).

I don't see why a FreeBSD or Linux editor needs to support wierd Ctrl-key
combo's for their commands when every FreeBSD/Linux box has a PC keyboard.
Those who need terminal support already have their *WIDE* choice of UNIX 
editors so lets make one simple text editor that follows the IBM CUA
standard interface used by MS Windows, OS/2 and Motif. 

>6)	The paint program is the program that starts up when
>	you click on paint files (or you can run it by picking
>	"create new bitmap(/icon/pixmap/picture/image/etc.)"
>	from the "start" menu.

From the X menu. And if somebody would work on the user-interface to 
xpaint, then it would serve the job quite nicely.

>Motif is a strange bear, in that it falls into both groups: it is
>the defacto GUI standard for X, and it is an industry mandated
>standard that requires a buy-in to OSF to let you play.  Motif
>is proprietary technology, and as such, should never have been
>ratified by a standards body.

Motif is also bloated. I strongly believe that the FreeBSD/Linux 
community should work on a standard GUI for X using the IBM CUA standards 
similar to Motif but written to be lean and mean, maybe even right down
at the Xlib level. One thing that commercial GUI designers do a lot is 
run their prototypes by focus groups for comment. If the FreeBSD/Linux 
community would do the same, we could have a winner. Focus groups are 
pretty easy to do for anyone at a college where there are tons of 
Windows/Mac/OS2 using undergrads ready and willing to critique your work.

>Hmmmmmmm... Ray Noorda left after that statement, and less than
>a month later the group that later broke away to become Caldera
>came into existance... hmmmmmmmm.

So you're the guy who started that, eh? ;-D

>With due respect, anyone who portrays a technical market as
>"impenetrable" or "already won by the competition" is a jackass
>who is going to drive your product into the toilet.

Exactly. If you have an excellent technology it is never too late to dust 
it off, bring it up to date, and do great things with it.

>The first can be dealt with using TWIN (or WINE, if it ever gets
>done) to keep the API's the same and reduce porting changes and
>therefore costs.

After looking long and hard at the OS/2 saga, I think that WINE is 
irrelevant. Success will come for the UNIX community when it develops 
it's own slim, trim, stable GUI that is close enough to CUA standards 
that the average person can pick it up in 5 minutes. This doesn't mean we 
can't do things using 2 or 3 mouse buttons as well, just that the core
has to be simple and today "simple" is defined by what is familiar.

>"Microsoft's problems" is another way of saying "competitor's
>opportunities".

yeah. MS has gotten fat and sassy and overly dependent on programmers, 
architects and management who are more into "control" than "serving the 
customer". But I don't really believe that other companies are much 
different. However free software development such as FreeBSD/Linux *IS* 
different. No boss giving orders, just the marketplace of ideas. And the 
best ideas slowly win out. 



-- 
Michael Dillon                                    Voice: +1-604-546-8022
Memra Software Inc.                                 Fax: +1-604-546-3049
http://www.memra.com                             E-mail: michael@memra.com