ftp.nice.ch/peanuts/GeneralData/Usenet/news/1990/CSN-90.tar.gz#/comp-sys-next/1990/Nov/NeXT-as-multiuser-system

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Date: Sun 09-Nov-1990 15:12:51 From: isbell@ucscf.UCSC.EDU (Art Isbell) Subject: NeXT as multiuser system My vocation is a C/Unix applications programmer for multiuser platforms. My avocation is a NeXT developer. I would like for my avocation to become my vocation, but I see a large segment of the market in flux now; I would like to know if NeXT can be a player in this segment. Our applications are like many: they run on a relatively powerful cpu with many users sharing the cpu via character-based dumb terminals. Our customers like the windowed environment they see advertised everywhere, but to get this capability, they either have to replace their character terminals with rather expensive X terminals or even more expensive networked workstations. And if they decide to pay the price, then we will have to program the GUI (I understand the X programming is no fun versus NeXTstep). I don't think the hardware exists yet, but what would an equivalent network of NeXTstep/DPS terminals be like? I've heard about the high network overhead with running X. How would DPS compare? Could DPS terminals be any less expensive than X terminals? If the cpu were an IBM RS/6000 running NeXTstep, would X be the network protocol, or are DPS commands being sent over the net? I'd really like to know how to promote NeXT and NeXTstep as a multiuser platform with NeXTstep running at every terminal. Any ideas/comments? Thanks!

These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.