Hummingbird Communications, Ltd (Ontario, Canada) has an X software
development kit for Microsoft Windows with Xlib, Xt intrinsics, and Xaw
and Xmu libraries. They also have an optional OSF/Motif toolkit. With
these one can create X Window clients that execute on a PC under
Microsoft Windows and can be displayed on the local PC X server or on
any remote PC or Unix system running an X server.
> One thing I'm thinking of is to create a STDWIN port that uses Motif
> instead of bare Xlib underneath. It may even be possible to do this
> entirely in Python, once my Motif/Xt port has sufficient Xlib
> functionality (currently it has none). This would help Rob as well:
> he can continue to use STDWIN for "toy" apps on his Mac or PC, but on
> UNIX boxes his apps will follow the Motif style.
A port to Motif would give STDWIN on Unix a nice facelift. My
unfinished Microsoft Windows port of STDWIN uses the Windows style,
which looks similar to Motif. So although the current STDWIN-on-Xlib is
an "ugly duckling" the "toy" platforms already look nice. :-)
> (To make one thing clear: I don't really plan to discontinue STDWIN,
> but I don't want to make additions to it either, sice the audience is
> really too small. Had there been a Windows port two years ago, the
> situation might have been different... Sigh.)
In these past two years several commercial cross-platform GUI libraries
have been introduced, but unlike STDWIN they are proprietary and
expensive. Even if Motif became "public domain" I don't think it would
replace STDWIN because only a tiny fraction of PC and Mac users
currently have the necessary X server software. So STDWIN may continue
to be a useful tool for Python cross-platform development for some time.
John DeGood degood@lf.hp.com
Hewlett-Packard Little Falls Site (Wilmington, Delaware)