From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 8836 invoked from network); 25 Feb 2023 21:31:57 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 25 Feb 2023 21:31:57 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BE27443269; Sun, 26 Feb 2023 07:31:51 +1000 (AEST) Received: from ewsoutbound.kpnmail.nl (unknown [195.121.94.184]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3113B43268 for ; Sun, 26 Feb 2023 07:31:36 +1000 (AEST) X-KPN-MessageId: ce731d51-b553-11ed-91cc-005056994fde Received: from smtp.kpnmail.nl (unknown [10.31.155.6]) by ewsoutbound.so.kpn.org (Halon) with ESMTPS id ce731d51-b553-11ed-91cc-005056994fde; Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:31:46 +0100 (CET) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=planet.nl; s=planet01; h=to:date:message-id:subject:mime-version:content-type:from; bh=qKZHFRXZRzSrfnCfYoy32ZE/OZENwege6OPZhREHFP0=; b=0I0S9BUiTsfmMb/ePChTtO+IR4uWghe0zW9NhZ/R1ji1D/P9PARTt+UvU4SZCqHJQuehFGrupbAnL jMDRxRSjieq7wJhft2kMNqrKrDHZg8VZb5KdDFN1aX+qu5xFDJakeT3YU76Khho+VcjOJdtZ9QyDbQ iMVm0eZ3qEuRlxFU= X-KPN-MID: 33|qFu2QsWxsgVVtNucKGEsn8GiSc4m4GMf3mxI+jEWlfbnAA3t7oCDaesz9Fj4fsr j56raIbkAKqpRl0WYR/ybQan3BpBX5Q5PA117n4ZnvIQ= X-KPN-VerifiedSender: Yes X-CMASSUN: 33|cB1JIfZIcokZ9jerwksfhHBgEK2+k9iUs7+Uhv05Tfe/v64b58KGs45cjgWVNzt yk1b/zX7682k7FbctglZWRA== X-Originating-IP: 46.253.188.28 Received: from smtpclient.apple (46-253-188-28.dynamic.monzoon.net [46.253.188.28]) by smtp.kpnmail.nl (Halon) with ESMTPSA id c0534525-b553-11ed-87f0-00505699772e; Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:31:24 +0100 (CET) From: Paul Ruizendaal Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 14.0 \(3654.120.0.1.13\)) Message-Id: <58626A0B-EF9C-4920-8E20-CE0C4210BA6A@planet.nl> Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:31:22 +0100 To: "tuhs@tuhs.org" X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3654.120.0.1.13) Message-ID-Hash: AVZXZEDI3KHOGEQOA2OYF7LPOMFQ45S3 X-Message-ID-Hash: AVZXZEDI3KHOGEQOA2OYF7LPOMFQ45S3 X-MailFrom: pnr@planet.nl X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Early GUI on Linux List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: I think discussion of early Linux is in scope for this list, after all = that is 30 years ago. Warren, if that is a mis-assumption please slap my = wrist. Following on from the recent discussion of early workstations and = windowing systems, I=E2=80=99m wondering about early windowing on Linux. = I only discovered Linux in the later nineties (Red Hat 4.x I think), and = by that time Linux already seemed to have settled on Xfree86. At that = time svgalib was still around but already abandoned. By 1993 even student class PC hardware already outperformed the = workstations of the early/mid eighties, memory was much more abundant = and pixels were no longer bits but bytes (making drawing easier). Also, = early Linux was (I think) more local machine oriented, not LAN oriented. = Maybe a different system than X would have made sense. In short, I could imagine a frame buffer device and a compositor for = top-level windows (a trail that had been pioneered by Oriel half a = decade before), a declarative widget set inspired by the contemporary = early browsers and the earlier NeWS, etc. Yet nothing like that happened = as far as I know. I vaguely recall an OS from the late 90=E2=80=99s that = mixed Linux with a partly in-kernel GUI called =E2=80=9CBerlin=E2=80=9D = or something like that, but I cannot find any trace of that today, so = maybe I misremember. So here are a few things that I am interested in and folks on this list = might remember: - were there any window systems popular on early Linux other than X? - was there any discussion of alternatives to X? - was there any discussion of what kernel support for graphics was = appropriate?