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126 lines
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<title>Lesstif: One User's Impression LG #30</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Lesstif: One User's Impression</font></H1>
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<h4>By <a href="mailto: layers@marktwain.net">Larry Ayers</a></h4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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One of the main differences between Linux and the commercial Unix flavors
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is that the commercial unices commonly come with one version or other of the
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proprietary Motif libraries. Motif is basically a "widget-set", a set of
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libraries and header-files which give X-windows applications a characteristic
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look, including such features as dialog-boxes, menus, file- and
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font-selectors, drag-and-drop support, etc.
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<p>There are several free widget-sets which offer roughly the same
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functionality, such as GTK, so Motif isn't a necessity for a Linux system
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except for one factor. Many of the popular free-software projects come from
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institutions such as universities or government agencies, with a few
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originating in a commercial or corporate setting. These institutions often
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use a commercial Unix and programmers tend therefore to use the Motif
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development tools.
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<p>A year or so ago I bought a copy of SWIM Motif from the <a
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href="http://www.lsl.com">LSL</a> web-site. There were several software
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packages I wanted to compile which required the Motif libraries and header
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files, such as XEphem, NEdit, DDD and Vim. The price of a commercial Motif
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package had been close to two hundred dollars, but the new SWIM version was
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selling at that time for about sixty, so it seemed like a good deal. It's a
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quality product and worked well for me until I decided to upgrade my Debian
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system to Debian 2.0, which is based on libc6 (as are Redhat 5.0 and 5.1). I
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used the handy <i>autoup.sh</i> script, which upgrades the core packages of
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the distribution in the proper order. Everything was hunky-dory until I
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realized that my proprietary Motif libs were based on libc5 and won't function
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in a libc6 environment. The LSL company offers a thirty-dollar upgrade for
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customers in my situation, but I felt that I'd spent enough on what isn't
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really a necessary software package, and who's to say whether some future
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changes in Linux might put me in the same situation again? Situations like
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these really make me appreciate source-code availability!
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<p>I'd been hearing favorable reports on the newer versions of Lesstif, a
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free and open-source Motif 1.2 clone created by a team of developers
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called the Hungry Programmers. The release of the Netscape source earlier
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this year had attracted new Lesstif users, as Netscape needs Motif to
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build. More users means more bug-reports and probably some additional
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programming help; I can't help but think that the new Netscape situation was a
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shot in the arm for Lesstif. The Lesstif releases seem to be more frequent
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now, for whatever reasons.
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<p>I really didn't know what to expect from Lesstif. I remembered reading
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usenet postings concerning Lesstif's failures to work with this or that
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application and numerous comments on display flaws and other bugs. These
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comments were made over a year ago, which is approximately a decade in
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"computer time", so I was hoping for at least a marginally useful product.
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<p>The first release I tried was 0.83. To my surprise, it compiled and
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installed as easily as any other quality GPL package. Feeling rather foolish
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that I'd spent hard-earned cash on a commercial Motif implementation, I
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proceeded to re-compile (over the course of a few weeks) every application
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which I had previously linked with SWIM Motif. So far every one I've tried
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has worked well with Lesstif; some packages needed the paths to the Lesstif
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libraries and header-files specified in the Makefile, but this was the only
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tinkering I've had to do. I was particularly pleased that NEdit now works
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with Lesstif, as this editor's dependence on Motif has until now hindered its
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widespread use by Linux users.
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<p>The few bugs I've seen in the Lesstif version I'm using now (0.85) are
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minor and have little effect on usability.
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<p>One reason Lesstif is important for the Linux community is that its
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existence and usability make it possible for the developers of distributions
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to package Motif-linked applications without the necessity of dealing with
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non-free software. The application developers can continue to use Motif,
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while Linux users can still compile and run the programs without the
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proprietary libraries.
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<p>Jon Christopher, a member of the Lesstif team, has written an essay about
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Lesstif's history and prospects which is well worth reading. It was originally
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contributed to the Slashdot web-site, and is available
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<a href="http://slashdot.org/features/9806051046213.shtml">here</a>. The
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<a href="http://www.lesstif.org">Lesstif</a> web-site has the latest releases
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and other news.
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<hr>
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<p>
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<!-- hhmts start -->
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Last modified: Sun 28 Jun 1998
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Larry Ayers <BR>
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Published in Issue 30 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, July 1998</H5></center>
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