Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 11:19:47 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: richardc@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Richard Chang) Cc: jehamby@lightside.com, terry@lambert.org, lenzi@cwbone.bsi.com.br, ports@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Lesstif (motif compatible) package. Message-ID: <199604111819.LAA04358@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.PTX.3.91.960410185036.24231a-100000@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU> from "Richard Chang" at Apr 10, 96 06:51:54 pm
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> Speaking about motif, is there anyway to have the same X > environment as in what is used on SUNOS 5.3 (Solaris) on SUN Sparc5's and > what is used on HP Apollo Workstations with the same desktop under FreeBSD? You mean 5.4 (Solaris 2.4)? That's the first one that shipped with Motif instead of OpenLook (OpenWindows). The HP environment is called "VUE". It's Motif plus some tools, like the little control/button box at the bottom of the screen, some drag targets (for printing, etc.), a clock, and a file manager. HP VUE is a component of CDE (the Common Desktop Environment), which is available as a seperate disk for Solaris (2.x SunOS -- SVR4) systems. There are companies selling CDE; generally the licensing of CDE is only slightly more expensive than Motif (unless you are Novell or some other comany and can "trade" technology so you don't have to pay any of the OSF or HP royalties). My problem with CDE (and Motif as a component of CDE) as a standard is that you must pay to license the technology. It is effectively a standards-granted monopoly on UNIX user interfaces. The intent, obviously, is to require a "buy-in" to be allowed to compete in the UNIX market. Without the "buy-in" or the type of trades Novell (now SCO, I guess) and the other big vendors have engaged in using imaginary money to drop the royalty costs, this means that the cost to the free systems for the same technology is more than the cost of a commercial system. That's why I approve of a project *like* Lesstif, even if I don't approve of the implementation practices or licensing of Lesstif itself (I'd *really* like to see a "FreeCDE" project). So there is a way: license CDE seperately from a third party that doesn't have a royalty buy-off, and pay through the nose for it. 8-(. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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