No subject

[jray at utkux1.utk.edu]

I have recently been examining options for using PC's as cheap
solutions for creating X-window seats. This is prompted by the
large number of 386 and 486 PCs which both my sponsors and
the University were tempted to buy during the last two or three
years. What I really need is a way to let DOS users tap into the
power of multi-tasking multi-user systems without them having to
spend time and money (God forbid) on learning a new operating system.
The answer of course is X-window applications which allow users
to operate within a familiar environment and let the application
programmers deal with the nitty-gritty of the O/S and GIS
systems underlying the applications.

	I recently purchased the DesqView/X system with the
PC/TCP network interface and the Openlook window manager which
I have installed on a 25 mhz 386 PC. The PC has a Western Digital
16 bit ethernet card which is attached to my SUN network using
thinnet. The K210 Generic Kernel from FTP Software is used to
provide the Desqview/X / Ethernet interface. The PC also uses
a Novel network interface into another local area network. The
PC is using a super VGA graphics board running 800x600 with a
19" Multisync monitor.

	To date, I have had limited though encoraging results
with the system. I run Openlook 3.0 on the Suns and can load all
my clients across the network onto the PC console. Other than the
difference in resolution between the Sun consoles and the PC
screen everything seems to work well and the response time is
suprisingly fast. The problem though is GRASS. The new XDRIVER will 
not display color on the PC monitor. Each time the driver attempts
to display a color, even black, an error message is generated.
The old XDRIVER works in a as much as it will display a limited number
of colors but not shades of grey. For instance, when I display
aspect maps I get two tones rather than a series of tones. I also
use Arc/Info V6.0 and ARCPLOT seems to run without any problems.

	Due to the relatively cheap cost of converting existing PC
platforms into X-systems (my total bill was around $650), it seems that
developing an XDRIVER from these type of systems would be beneficial
in a number of ways: (a) increasing the accessibility of GIS in general
(b) easy for teaching classes as most Universities have PC labs but
sadly not many that I am aware of have labs of workstations which are
big enough to teach larger classe and (c) as platforms to run
applications from (i.e., end-users etc who already have PCs).

	If anybody has tried anything similar or have attempted to
hook MACs up to workstations using X-software I would be very
interested in swapping notes.

Julian J. Ray
Transportation Research Center
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.