[plug] Gnome + Enlightenment + X Windows

[Trevor Phillips]

David Campbell wrote:
> 
> > > I can see that Linux has many advantages over Windows but its weakest point
> > > seems to be the GUI.

IMHO, it's not so much GUI as GUI functionality. There's lots of pretty GUI's
for Linux, and quite a few are quicker than Windoze98; I dual-boot KDE/Win98.
BUT Linux GUI's still lack functionality! I'm talking applications and such,
and the biggie (IMHO) is file manager! I hate MicroSoft as much as the next
guy, but I still prefer Internot Exploder (the File Manager part) over any
Linux filemanager. It's just easier to DO things, and get information than any
Linux filemanager I've seen, and for me, efficient functionality is high
priority! KDE's FM is getting there, but still not quite.

The other missing app is a decent powerful text editor. kwrite is getting
there, but I still prefer the feel of TextPad (shareware for Windoze). And
don't go on about the power of vi. I know vi very well; I still find it less
efficient than others. Maybe "comfort" and "intuitiveness" are the things I
need...

(Hey, um, whatsyername! Mark! What was that GUI VI you were telling me about at
the last PLUG meeting?) (Are you on this list?? ^_^;;)

It's sad; I'll use Linux to do my work, but 9 times out of 10 I'll give up in
frustration and reboot into Win98 for one reason or another.

> Some would argue that because Linux does not have an embedded window-
> manager that this is a strength. No easy where clicking an icon can
> crash the machine. I have yet to see an application crash the X
> server let alone the machine.

I have. ^_^
One example; Internet Explorer 4 under Solaris. Stuffed the whole CDE up!
Jammed solid! (Had to rlogin and kill the X server! ^_^) Trust Micro$oft to
write something that crashes UNIX...

> WRONG! You still have video drivers for Windows. Oh.. and someone
> forgot that Win95 actually has TWO window managers. Yes, progman.exe
> still lives...

Yep! You CAN get different Window Managers for Windoze95/98. There's the old
progman.exe, and there are also third party ones, like LiteStep. Not sure how
much is them and how much core windoze tho.

> I think you will find that there is an extra layer of interface
> between applications and the video driver (the "X protocol"?) which
> is required for network support. You really need to compare
> Win95+Carbon Copy (or similar program) to get the equivalent to X.

X is great!! Earlier today I was at Curtin and wanted to access a VNC Virtual
Desktop on my Sun at work, but I didn't have the VNC Viewer locally (and in
fact, I don't think there IS a HP binary, for HP was what I was on), so I
telnetted in to my Linux box at work (Murdoch), set display to the HP, and ran
xvncviewer connected to the Sun.

   +----+            +-------+               +-----+
   | HP |  <-- X --> | Linux |  <-- VNC -->  | Sun | 
   +----+            +-------+               +-----+

(You know you've been lecturing too much when you do diagrams to explain
everything. ^_^;;;)

BTW: I mentioned VNC at the last PLUG meeting and was rewarded by blank looks
by most people. Don't many people know about this wonderful thing?? It's
Thin-Client technology, allowing you to access a remote Desktop in a local
Window. One machine has the VNC server, the other the VNC client, and it uses
its own protocol. It's great because it works on many different machines;
display your NT desktop on your Linux box, or run your Mac desktop inside a web
browser (with the JAVA viewer).

And it's even better with UNIX, as UNIX is quite used to having separate
desktops, so you set up a separate VNC server/desktop, which you can access
anywhere, and it's also stateless! Use it from the Mac, then shift to your PC
and finish typing a sentence!

Anyway, enough of the marketing. I find it handy, thought others may too. ^_^

More info at:
   http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/

-- 
. Trevor Phillips             -           http://jurai.murdoch.edu.au/ . 
: CWIS Technical Officer         -           T.Phillips at murdoch.edu.au : 
| IT Services                       -               Murdoch University | 
 >------------------- Member of the #SAS# & #CFC# --------------------<
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