nanogui: GnuStep port to nano-X
Subject:
Re: GnuStep port to nano-X
From:
"Robert E. Hartley" ####@####.####
Date:
16 May 2001 00:55:41 -0000
Message-Id: <3B01DD69.16060AA1@ics.com>
Alex Holden wrote:
> > > I don't know, how many MacOS X applications are likely to be useful
> > > on a PDA?
> > About the same number as Windows apps, hence MicroWindows.
>
> Not quite since there's no MacOS X equivalent of Wince.
Indisputable, but Linux (& BSD?) have been offering some very interesting
possibilites on units the size of the Helio, Agenda, iPAQ, and others.
Using things like MicroWindows on them with a cut down Linux offers some very
interesting possibilites. Savings in licensing fees can be turned back into either
lower retail costs, or better hardware.
(Yes, I dream in color)
> > I figured that a nice OOP language like objC plus an OpenStep API would
> > be good for widgets, since it provides much of the handiness and
> > elegance of Java with the speed of C in a time tested API like the one
> > used on NeXT.
>
> It might well be nice. I haven't really looked at Gnustep. Is it based
> around a Display Postscript engine, or does it somehow translate the
> OpenStep calls directly into Xlib calls?
From what I can tell, they have separated the back end so that one could use DPS
and/or X calls.
I am still quite the newbie at it, but the chance at being source compatible with a
Mac is too interesting not to explore.
> How big/slow do you think it
> would be and how much work do you think it would take to port?
It sure be smaller than Motif, which I have been able to run quite well on the
Agenda VR3. :)
I would guess it would be a simple tweak of some makefiles to get it running on a
PDA with a stripped down X11 like Keith Packard's kdrive work. I think the X calls
are pretty centralised (not sure), but once I get a clean build, I do not see it
being any harder than porting Sun's KVM from X11 to NanoX, which I did once for the
Helio. The hardest thing I found was learning the differences between NanoX and
X11.
You know, now that I know what I didn't know I needed to know I, I now know I know,
so it should be a weekend's work...
The problem is that the Objective C compiler seems very version finicky, so trying
to get GnuStep working on my NetWinder (and iPAQ) has been a pain in the neck.
According to one of the compiler guru guys at Rebel.com, the problem is that there
is something wrong with the way the library that handles exceptions rolls the stack
back.
I am obviously not a compiler guru, so it is way beyond me to start thinking how
I could suddenly learn StrongArm assembly language and compiler design in order to
fix it myself.)
Hence, I am feeling stuck about getting either my Netwinder or iPAQ running
GnuStep.
My one hope is that the fellow that got an old version of GnuStep running on the
Netwinder can dig something up while he spends the summer there at Rebel.com.
Anyways, I am going to continue experimenting with gcc v3.x and the latest gnustep
from CVS and see what happens.
If anyone on this list has encouraging news, please do not hesitate to drop a line,
happy hacking,
Rob
