🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BwrxtD.MMw@alsvid.une.edu.au> dmiller@elli.une.edu.au writes:
>What is this "X-Windows" I see referred to?  I assume it is a Windows
>version for cooperative processing?
>
>Furthermore, I have heard nothing but moans and groans about it's
>performance.  Is it any good, or too much of a resource pig?
>
>Thanks for the help.


"X-Windows" is essentially a *protocol* to allow the separation of
processing from presentation.  Both components talk to an "X" layer.
The two components can be on different machines, which may well have
completely different architectures.  Various window managers can be
built on top, to give different GUI's (Graphical User Interface's) with
distinctive look and feel.  One processing component can, at the same
time, talk with several presentation components on divers
architectures.  This is normally described in terms of clients and
servers.

The "X" system works in well with the "Open Systems" philosophy, can
makes it easier to choose the most cost effective machines for the
client and server applications in a network.  There is no longer any
need to be locked into one manufacturer, for all your "boxes" in a
network.   One common solution is to buy, one or more, very powerful
boxes to host server applications and a larger number of "X-stations"
to support users.  These "X-stations" provide very good performance
for reasonably low cost.

Performance will obviously be inferior to a well designed single host
GUI system like an Acorn Archimedes running Risc-OS, but "X-windows"
is designed to be run over a network.


Gavin
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