[252] in resnet
PC-X servers for windows.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bellybutton)
Wed Mar 23 13:24:17 1994
To: resnet@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 13:22:28 EST
From: Bellybutton <jthunter@MIT.EDU>
Hi y'all.
The following is only a thought not a proposal but if anyone is interested
or thinks there are serious problems with this idea I would appreciate any
response. Please, though, I don't know gratuatous flamage just because you
don't like the idea.
Idea:
There are a number of PC-X servers on the market. Most of these are
X11R5 compliate and some come with there own LAN managers. I have been
looking into the possibilty of installing a PC-X server for MS Windows
over the current resnet system on my own PC. I have looked into a few
comercially available PC-X servers as to their cost, size, and availability.
Some of them look quite promising. The base unit for a server is about
$380 for a signal license. This figure is about the average for the
educational discount versions of the X servers I have looked into. Most
of them also offer package bulk groups that can be considerably cheaper.
Hence my coming here for interest and comment. One of the server that I was
looking at offer a group package in the range of $1000 for 5 and $1100 for
10. This puts the price of servers for students (thats us) around $100
bucks a person. (There are bigger price breaks for more people.) That is
not that much considering that they offer the PC-X server that is fully
X11R5 compliant, a TCP/IP network manager, and the Xlib toolkits for C/C++
development of X-clients. This means that you can develop your own X-clients
for the comfort of your own machine. Furthermore, you can use the Windows
window manager or Motif, TWM, Openview, etc on a remote machin if you so
desire. Furthermore, the package includes site service for a year,
and free software updates for the year period. That is they will
update our software and documentation to reflect any new product
releases that appear within a year of purchase. I am not sure yet if
this includes the platform switch from Windows 3.1 to Chicago but I
would certainly look into this possiblity before purchasing.
Basically the idea of running a PC-X server is intriging and with
enough interest from fellow students the cost could become managable. I have
requested info and demos from two companies (free of cost and obligation).
I would be willing to corrdinate the demoing of these products with anyone
who is interested in pursueing this possibility.
If you *must* be involved in this pursuance then feel free to email me
at jthunter@mit.edu and exude your enthusiasm into my mailbox.
If you only are midely insterested or have questions please feel free to
respond here at resnet@mit.edu (I don't have enough disk space for
for large quantities of gratutious questions or flames). I will do my
best to answer any questions with the limited info that I have already
gleaned and will provide more and info and demoes become available
(ie. stuff starts showing up in the mail.)
Thanks,
Jason.
