Subject: This Topline Menu Schtuff...
To: None <macbsd-general@sun-lamp.cs.berkeley.edu,>
From: Chris Kush <csk@laputa.eecs.nwu.edu>
List: macbsd-general
Date: 06/20/1994 09:50:44
	Yes, if you want to use the mouse,. open /dev/mouse.

	To those who want a Real Slick Console Package, I hasten to state that
No Slick, Convenient, or even Occasionally Handy things should go in the
kernel.  The Kernel should be a clean, happy place, content in its simplicity
and Filled with Tao.

	To those purists, I suggest a User-Domain Console Support Emulation
Thingy, on the grounds that:

	1)	I don't think anyone is ready to say that "X Works" on
		MacBSD.  Also, I for one don't have much RAM to play with,
		so I'm not going to be able to use X at first.  A simple-yet-
		functional console interface shore would come in handy.

	2)	How many people here have used a Sun's console WITHOUT
		Open Crock or X or SunView?  It is crap of the first water.
		If someone wanted to bother to teach me the niceties of
		writing a console package, I would be greatly surprised if
		I could not do better.

	So, write it in userland, not systemland, but do not think that such a
thing is not needed.  I find that X's greatest functionality to me is having
three editors open on three different files, plus a window with compiler
warnings and a "run window."  Virtual terminals are going to be the only way
to achieve this effect for a while.

	IMHO, write a REALLY NICE user-process console thingus, with menus
(since the screen is bitmapped anyway :) ) and a free-ram bar, and a process
count.  Invent a couple new system calls if you need to:

	int GetNumProcesses()

but try to keep the kernel clean, so when I get into writing consoles I can
replace yours.

	csk

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