This is my warped knowledge/history of NeWS (Networked/extensible Window
System):
NeWS was Sun's display postscript attempt at a replacement/competitor for
MIT's X11. Patrick Naughton was hired by Sun around '87/'88 (founder of
oak/java and creator of xlock) and started working on the NeWS/X11 project;
an attempt to merge NeWS with X11. He eventually headed up the graphics
part of the project which was OpenWindows (the X11 implementation Sun had
come up with). Sun eventually dropped the project from industry pressure
(MIT was supported by HP/DEC/IBM). Patrick Naughton almost quit and went
to work at NeXT but Sun begged him to stay and work on a new technology
that succeded where the NeWS/X11 project failed. This new technology
became Java eventually (but only after the oak team was convinced to stop
trying to develop those stupid interactive tv things after SGI outbid them
for a contract with Time Warner). Patrick Naughton wrote HotJava (the
first java applet) and then quit the next week or so.
>Don't you mean the server side? I think I read that you could upload PS
>code into the display server so that it could do all your drawing for
>you. Pretty wild stuff compared to X.
Display postscript is awesome. People are always under the impression its
slow, but my NeXTcube with an 030 and 16megs of ram is just as responsive
as my intel box.
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