Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 11:52:05 +0800 (GMT)
From: Orlando Andico <orly AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph>
To: Paul W Brannan <brannanp AT musc DOT edu>
cc: mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca, djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: this is way off-topic!
In-Reply-To: <Pine.ULT.3.95.970128220441.13080B-100000@atrium.musc.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.3.93.970129114328.10899C-100000@gibson.eee.upd.edu.ph>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Tue, 28 Jan 1997, Paul W Brannan wrote:

[...]
> > generator), a text based console control panel, common configurations
> 
> YES!  Another thing I've been saying for a while!  You don't need graphics
> to have ease of use!
> 
> > for setting up the MODEM, NULL modem, sound card, email, a dynamic PPP
> > link (an EASY setup like in Windblows), and other things like a
> > default sendmail.cf file that is set up for the most common end user
> > configuration (perhaps also with a control panel entry), I can think
> 

the problem with that is that most people don't have much idea what their
soundcard's IRQ, DMA, etc is. and, even though you can compile soundcard
as a loadable module, the module sits at a particular IRQ/DMA/port
configuration, and you can't have a module for every combination..

> Don't forget printer configuration and filesystem configuration.  And it
> would be nice to have an "automount" feature on removeable file systems
> (or does Linux alread have that?).
> 

there IS an automount feature for removable media (i.e. zip drives,
cdrom's, floppies) this works nicely except for floppies, because the
mount daemon (similar to vold on Solaris) polls the drive, thus wearing it
out faster. the Solaris 2.x vold man page tells a lot about this kind of
wear-out-the-drive behavior. 

> > of MANY other programs that would be cool to have also. Anyone have
> > any ideas on this?  I think it would be much better than persuing a
> > NEW GUI in DOS.
> 
> I do too, but I don't see the Linux thing happening.  There are too many
> idiots out there who think "I'm cool, cause I know how to use vi."  Who
> cares?  I could spend my time doing other things.  Like having fun.
>

I'm starting to write my own set of desktop applets using XForms because
the current level of goodies for Linux/X are either overkill or too hard
to configure (imagine wading around in /usr/lib/X11). Stuff like a nice
taskbar (although FVWM95 has that), a start panel like the SGI toolchest,
etc. Actually my aim is to make my Linux box look and feel similar to the
SGI I use in school.

> > Also, if such a project is begun for Linux, I feel that ALL programs
> > that are part of the project MUST be written in C period with the
> > possible exception of some small bash scripts.  I say this because I
> > think that TCL/TK programs and other shell languages are SLOW!!!!! for
> > this kind of thing.
> 
> Or C++.
> 

Everyone should try out XForms, it uses only Xlib, it's pretty cute, and
it even comes with an interface designer that spits out code wrappers for
you. Who knows, it might not be too tough to port to DJGPP/Xlibemu. There
is already an OS/2 XFree86 port. 


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| Orlando Andico                email: orly AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph |
| IRC Lab/EE Dept/UP Diliman   http://gibson.eee.upd.edu.ph/~orly |
|  "through adventure we are not adventuresome" -- 10000 Maniacs  |
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