Re: [TUHS] tangential unix question: whatever happened to NeWS?

[George Michaelson <ggm@algebras.org>]

From the side, I remember when X10R4 hit the Decstations we had at
UCL, and how deeply confusing it was having "server" and "client"
inverted for what we all thought we were doing, using the local
workstation as a client to connect to a more distant (across the
machineroom) server like a Pyramid or a bigger Vax.

One of those "ok I see why you did that, but Maaaaan this is inverted
to what I expected" moments.

We'd been coding in SunView quite happily. SunView might have been
proprietary, but we knew what we were doing. Kinda.

NeWS, had this wonderful quality of being code, expressed inside other
code. So, if the two code(s) had been syntactically the same, I
suspect the confusion would have been even worserer. But, as it was
you were reading C, and suddenly, wrapped in what I will morally call
printf() you have "machine(stack) reverse polish notation here because
reasons pop pop pop") sentences. It was .. confusing.

It is not unlike being totally glued to N/Roff, introduced to T/Roff,
then introduced to family (a) of macros, then learn to cope with
family (b), and then have EQN and TBL thrown at you.. meantime..
somebody else passes you {relax} a {relax} TeX book {relax}

I couldn't {relax}

-G