SCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWSSCaNeWS Southern California NeXT ™ Users Group VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3 SCaNeWS ©1991 Newsletter MARCH 1991 All Rights Reserved
March has been a big month for NeXT and its users Windows on the same screen! One major drawback - color stations are shipping! Along with the color of SoftPC , which emulates a IBM PC/AT with stations comes Software Release 2.1, which is re- 80286 and 80287 chips, is its speed, only about that quired for color and fixes many bugs in 2.0. (See the of a 12 Mhz AT (Norton SI rating of 12.5). How- annoucements from NeXT and users’ comments on ever, a more advanced version of SoftPC is report- pages 2-4.) We anxiously await future announce- edly under development and it will increase the ments on the shipping of the NeXTdimension board efficiency of emulation from the current 10% to (in April) and who knows what else - perhaps a port about 40%. The advanced version will also im- to a RISC chip or another vendor’s platform? Rumor prove on another major drawback, EGA graphics has it that NeXT will be going with the HP PA-RISC emulation at best, to VGA emulation. The ad- chip, which rates as high as 72 SPECmarks and 76 vanced version will supposedly ship in the fourth MIPS! (See Tao #7 for more rumors.) quarter of 1991. (continued on page 17) MARCH MADNESS NeXT Ships Color Workstation ...... 2 Mike Mahoney [email protected] CommentCONTENTS on NeXTstation Color . . . . . 2 NeXT Software Release 2.1 ...... 3 Inside you’ll find several items concerning Light- CONTENTS house Design’s Diagram! , including a review, infor- Comment on Software Release 2.1 . . . 4 mation on academic discounts, and a lovely diagram of the NeXTstep Application Kit Hierarchy of class- Tao #7 - Robert Lin ...... 5 es. This month we’re also very happy to bring you CONTENTS Diagram! Academic Discounts ...... 8 the seventh installment of Robert Lin’s Tao . Tao is known as the place to look for the latest rumors, bits The look of Diagram! ...... 9 and pieces of useful but offbeat information, and CONTENTS also a bit of humor. Of course we always include a Application Kit Hierarchy diagram 10 bunch of stuff off the net which we hope you’ll find interesting. OFF THE NET CONTENTS (more) Frequently Asked Questions 11 I can’t wait for SoftPC to ship (any day now) - I’ll Improv : An In-Depth Look ...... 15 finally be able to clear off some desk space by get- ting rid of my PC clone. The beta version of SoftPC SoftwareCONTENTS Review - Diagram! ...... 16 gets four “cubes” from NeXTWORLD , the highest possible for a beta version. Can you imagine show- SCaN and SCaNeWS information 18 ing those DOS diehards two or three copies of MS- CONTENTS NeXT's system software, includ- ing NeXT Mail (multimedia elec- NeXT Ships Color Workstation tronic mail), integrated fax support and much more. March 12, 1991 NeXT's high-end, 32-bit color product, NeXTdimension, will REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - NeXT NeXTstation Color, as with all ship in April. Computer, Inc. announced today NeXT computers, uses Display that it has begun shipments of its PostScript to draw on-screen as NeXT Computer, Inc., headquar- $7,995 NeXTstation Color com- well as printed images, resulting tered in Redwood City, Calif., de- puters, on schedule. in a much more powerful graphics signs, manufactures and markets professional workstations, which NeXTstation Color uses 16 bits platform for applications, espe- combine the power and network- per pixel to achieve “true-color” cially publishing applications. ing of today's most advanced images on its 17-inch color dis- With Display PostScript, which workstations with the ease of use play. NeXTstation Color offers makes the full capability of Post- and productivity applications of automatic color dithering, so that Script available to all software de- today's best personal computers. the computer can display 32-bit- velopers for their display NeXT's professional workstation per-pixel images in 16 bits per graphics, users of NeXTstation systems promise to enhance the pixel. With this feature, most us- Color and all other NeXT com- way groups of people work to- ers will be unable to distinguish puters gain more powerful and gether in the 1990s. The company between the 16-bit image dis- more WYSIWYG applications. sells its products through its direct played on NeXTstation Color and In addition, all NeXT computers sales force and selected retail and a true 32-bit image. incorporate JPEG software, which compresses and decom- VAR channels in North America, NeXTstation Color offers cus- presses still color images. This Asia and Europe. NeXT is head- tomers fast, 'true-color' Display built-in feature allows users to quartered at 900 Chesapeake Dr., PostScript on a large, megapixel store more and larger images on Redwood City, CA , 94063.♦ display, for $7,995. This far sur- their hard disks, and to transmit passes the 8-bit, limited color on images over networks without NeXTstation Color Comment small screens offered by our com- bogging them down. (off the net) petitors for the same price,” said [email protected]. Steven P. Jobs, president and CEO Like all the other members of colorado.edu 19 March 91 of NeXT. “NeXTstation Color is NeXT's product family, NeXTsta- the computer that will bring 'true- tion Color offers an unsurpassed I received my Colorstation today. color' Display PostScript to the range of capabilities as standard, It comes with release 2.1 preload- masses.” such as the NeXTstep user inter- ed. I'm positively impressed how face and application development fast the thing is with 16 bits color, With a suggested retail price of environment; the ability to run the almost as fast as a regular 040, $7,995, NeXTstation Color fea- same application software pack- and a lot faster than a 030 mono- tures 4,096 colors (12 bits) at any age, unmodified, on any NeXT chrome. We had both a 32MB one time, plus 16 levels (4 bits) of workstation; true multitasking system and my 12MB next to each transparency, displayed on its with the UNIX operating system; other today, and except for Math- 1120 x 832 pixel, high-resolution built-in high-performance Ether- ematica and drawing files above 17-inch MegaPixel Color Display. net and TCP/IP networking, for 2MB in Icon the memory didn't With NeXTstation Color, NeXT sharing large color images over a make to much of a difference. Not brings much needed workstation- network; built-in digital signal to say that 32MB doesn't mean an level performance to the emerging processing (DSP) capabilities; a improvement, but as far as mov- computer-based graphic arts mar- 2.88 MB floppy drive and at least ing windows and running Frame- ket at an affordable price,” said 105 MB of hard drive storage; and Maker or Improv, there wasn't any Sanjay Sakujah, president of Dig- the unprecedented amount of sys- significant difference. ♦ ital Prepress International. tem and bundled software under
SCaNeWS• 2 • fixed function only applies to sites that force Software Release 2.1 a customized login sequence to occur when users log in. Alan M. Marcum • Fix to the tanh (hyperbolic tangent) NeXT Technical Support function. It now produces the correct results in all cases. • Performance improvement (by more than an order of magnitude) of the floor function. Release Description This may be important to developers who Software Release 2.1 is now shipping with all frequently use this function. new NeXT hardware and software products. • Fix to the system constant HUGE. It has The primary objective of Release 2.1 is to sup- been set to the correct value (it was set to - port NeXT's new color platforms, NeXTstation Infinity in 2.0). Color and NeXTdimension; however, some Re- • An improved gdb debugger that's able to lease 2.0 customers may want the software im- kill processes more reliably. provements in Release 2.1. This release contains no new features, and most Release 2.0 Release Philosophy users of monochrome systems won't need to NeXT usually recommends that users upgrade update to the new release. Some third-party to each major software release, i.e., from Re- products may require Release 2.1; for example, lease 1.n to 2.n to 3.n. We try to schedule these some fax modems require Release 2.1, al- required upgrades relatively infrequently so though most modems will work perfectly with that upgrading doesn't become a burden. Up- Release 2.0. If you have any questions regard- dates to minor releases (e.g., from 2.0 to 2.1) ing the compatibility of a third-party product aren't generally required, except for specific and the software release you're currently run- new hardware support or special needs. Minor ning, please contact the individual vendor. releases will obviously be more frequent than Aside from color support, Release 2.1 contains major releases, but we also try to provide soft- the following improvements over Release 2.0: ware tools to make the update process simple and painless. • Fully supported internationalization of NeXT applications. This affects users who Products Affected require nationalized versions of software to All newly shipping hardware and software run in a foreign country's native language. products have been revised to reflect the new • Improved reliability of very long (an hour software release. All computer systems, in- or more) sound or music sequences. cluding monochrome systems, will have Soft- • A more robust serial port driver, especially ware Release 2.1 preloaded on their hard disks. for high baud rates (9600 baud or greater). The major Release 2.1 software products of- This will affect customers who use NeXT fered are: computers as dial-in servers or UUCP sites. • Software Release 2.1 Extended Upgrade • More robust handling of very large font (N5507). Upgrades to Release 2.1 Extended folders (containing thousands of fonts) or with a magneto-optical disk. Font folders shared over the network. For • Software Release 2.1 Update Set (N7022). casual use of Font folders on an individual Updates Release 2.0 to Release 2.1 with computer, Release 2.0 is sufficient. floppy disks. • Printing support to non-NeXT PostScript • Software Release 2.1 Floppy Disk printers over the serial port. Installation Set (N5512). Installs Release • Fix to LoginHook (although the standard 2.1 (without Extensions) on a hard disk. NeXT login window is not affected). The (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 3 • Software Release 2.1 are able to utilize the update software. The (continued from the previous page) product consists of 2.88 MB floppy disks and • Software Release 2.1 Extensions Floppy an instruction manual; the update won't be pro- Disk Installation Set (N5513). Installs vided on any other media. Please note that this Release 2.1 Extensions on a hard disk. product is being sold at NeXT's cost. • Software Release 2.0/2.1 Upgrade License Product Usage (N5516). Permits usage of N5507 to The software tools in the Update Set will auto- upgrade an additional machine. matically replace files that were modified for Release 2.1. Users don't have to backup any Product Announcement N7022 personal files on their hard disks as the update Update Set, Software Release 2.1. $50.00 software will avoid standard user files. Product Description Licensing fees aren't associated with each copy This product updates Software Release 2.0 to of the update software. Thus the Update Set Software Release 2.1, and Software Release 2.0 grants the buyer a license to copy and install the Extended to Software Release 2.1 Extended. NeXT Update Set Software on any NeXT com- Although the primary objective of Release 2.1 puter for which NeXT Software Release 2.0 is to support NeXT's new color products, the has previously been licensed. Update Set is for customers with monochrome Ordering Instructions systems who want to take advantage of the soft- Ordering one or more copies of N7022 Update ware improvements in Release 2.1. Set is just like ordering any other NeXT prod- The Update Set only contains the differences uct. If you have questions about the ordering between the 2.0 and 2.1 releases, and not the process, please call 1-800-848-NeXT for assis- entire 2.1 release; thus, only Release 2.0 users tance. ♦
mentioned in the announcement's bug list: the Software Release 2.1 Comment old Motorola 68882 emulation code for the [email protected] (Mark Adler) 68040 that came with the 2.0 operating system can cause the system to die a horrible death 16 Mar 91 - California Institute of Technology while doing floating point calculations. Both Yes, 2.1 is out and supposedly shipping. It is Bing Chen and Sam Finn have found serious $50 for seven (?) 2.88M floppies. However, examples of this, but they do not appear to you do not have to buy it to be entitled to have crash under 2.1, which has new code from Mo- it. [see the paragraph above on licensing fees] torola. The bug list *does* mention the rela- I would suggest, as was suggested to me by a tively minor tanh() bug that is also fixed in the NeXT employee, that to save money just make new 68882 emulation code. one local order for the update and install it on NeXT says in the announcement: every NeXT with 2.0. >> This release contains no new features, and (They *could* have shipped on 13 or 14 1.44M >> most Release 2.0 users of mono systems floppies for $10, but I suppose they have to >> won't need to update to the new release. show off their super-cool 2.88M floppy capaci- In light of the inability of the NeXT computer ty in a product.) to compute under 2.0, I strongly disagree. I be- More importantly, I would point out that there lieve everyone should upgrade to 2.1 if at all is a more serious bug that is fixed in 2.1 than is possible. [ I definitely agree, upgrade! - ed. ] ♦
SCaNeWS• 4 •
slow... until today, I never real- Tao #7 Feb. 26, 1991 ized how good I had it. The installation for Interactive Robert Lin [email protected] AT&T UNIX alone took hours. I've been through the installa- tion process many times, so I Editor’s Introduction: Robert Welcome to UNIX Hell made no mistakes. Still, one Lin describes Tao as follows: must be extremely well pre- “It’s sort of a NeXT tabloid - ru- While programming UNIX work- pared; at one point, I had to mor mongering mill - bar gossip stations, I've come to fully appre- shutdown the installation pro- newsletter for the inquiring tech- ciate just what a hopeless cess and pull apart the machine nical minds.” Whatever it is, all situation X windows under UNIX just to check out the ethernet the issues contain useful and en- can be. The Sun SparcStation card IRQ and I/O addresses. tertaining comments, so I thought comes closest to being acceptable. you might like to see one in Its high performance, excellent I won't even mention the horrors SCaNeWS. The six previous is- bus/video bandwidth (better than I've had trying to make an older sues of Tao can be downloaded NeXT, which really shows when version of Interactive UNIX run using ftp from the cs.orst.edu ar- you scroll large bitmaps). But the with my Adaptec SCSI control- chive site. Robert Lin lives in software base is just not there to ler. Suffice it to say that one Vancouver, but will soon be relo- make me productive. Office pro- boot out of three would hang cating to Santa Monica. ductivity tools can be counted on permanently. one hand. The good ones are in- It's really not the OS vendor's credibly expensive. I suspect 1991 It's been quite a while since I fault. They have to work with so will be called "The Year of Desk- wrote Tao #6. I've taken some many non-standard parts that top UNIX", as will 1992, and time off to devote myself to my may be added to a non-standard 1993, and 1994. Something like fax project. Originally intended 386 clone. The same goes for the way it's been "The Year of for NeXT, MirageFax was can- the peripheral card vendors. My Networking" since early 1980s. celled when NeXT announced fax PowerPort multi-serial card software in System 2.0. To sal- Trying to make the lab 33Mhz won't work on one 386 clone, vage the disasterous situation, I 386 behave like a workstation is but will on another, whose bus proceeded to rewrite the whole just hopeless. The video band- timing was more conventional. thing from scratch, to be used on width is incredibly restricted, the Today the Interactive UNIX other non-NeXT machines. Now screen so small and lacking reso- crashed with a kernel panic the software runs on Xenix and lution, the AT&T UNIX software message: "Unrecoverable disk UNIX 386, as well as a Sun so unwieldy, that I've simply giv- I/O error at sector=053323 on SparcStation. en up the fight. Yes, you can start controller=0" or something like The R&D being complete, and the with a basic cheapo $2,000 386, that. I don't think I have any software being stable, I finally and spend $8,000 in kludges and more hair left to pull out. poorly supported extras to make it have some time on my hand to get So after all the sweat, hair back into more NeXT Program- behave like a NeXT or a Sun SparcStation. But why bother? pulled by ends, tears, and curs- ming and Tao Musing. ing, I've just decided to give it As usual, the standard disclaim- At one time I had 8M of memory, all up for the good of my mental ers: almost everything you read running X windows, and Visix health. The ease of installation here can be considered untrust- Looking Glass, a popular X desk- and use on the NeXT is some- worthy bar gossip. Tao is said to top program. The disk swapping thing you don't see in the price be a tabloid for good reasons. was incessant. Every window that tag, and you never appreciate We'll run articles about a two came up required a good disk until you try to install your very headed baby NeXT, son of Steve head thrashing. I used to complain own 386 UNIX system. Jobs clone and alien from Mars. about how 8M on the NeXT was (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 5 • Tao #7 - Robert Lin 1> use pubs master tcp next-ether alpha 3696 (continued from the previous page) 2> go query tcp next-ether alpha 3696 1> select * from authors console tcp next-ether alpha 4696 Sybase on Release 2.0 2> go debug tcp next-ether alpha 5696 trace tcp next-ether alpha 6696 As most of you have already no- And you will see a screenful of ticed, Sybase is not with Release author names, etc. "pubs" is a Now go to machine "beta" and 2.0. However, if you have the old sample database that gets generat- add the same text to the end of / Release 1.0, you can still get ed automatically when you ran usr/sybase/interfaces. Set the en- Sybase up and running under Re- CreateMaster. You should pur- vironment variable DSQUERY to lease 2.0. This is how you do it: chase or print the on-line Sybase "setup1". 1. Copy /usr/sybase from your user documentation and play with this database. Here comes the tricky part. Before old Release 1.0 OD to your you start up the server on machine Release 2.0 hard disk When you want to shut down the "alpha", you must edit /etc/host on 2. Go to /NextLibrary/Packages/ system, you can use the command machine "alpha" to have the Inter- ThirdParty and launch /usr/sybase/install/stopserver. To net number for host "alpha": start it up again, type Sybase_Db-library.pkg In my case, I've configured alpha 3. Click on the Expand button # /usr/sybase/bin/dataserver -d/ to the Internet number (IP ad- and watch the fireworks. usr/sybase/database/d_master & dress) of 192.42.172.10, so I type When asked to overwrite old into /etc/host Okay, now the really fun stuff. files, click Continue. You can setup two NeXTs and 192.42.172.10 alpha Okay, that's the first phase. Now have one act as the SQL server. There are a whole bunch of other you can create your very first Let's suppose you have two ma- entries in there, and they can all be Sybase database. The procedure chines, one named alpha and the deleted. This file is in fact never was outlined rather vaguely in an second named beta. You want to consulted by NeXT OS if NetInfo obscure page in the old System run the Sybase server on alpha, is running; NetInfo is the network 1.0 doc, and I can't even find any and use beta to access the data- global database that is now used thing about Sybase installation in base. You will want to start by de- instead of /etc/host. However, System 2.0 docs. This is what you fining the environment variable Sybase has an antiquated notion need to do: bring up Terminal, and SYBASE to be /usr/sybase. This of how things should be, so type the following commands: tells Sybase where to look for the Sybase still consults with /etc/ file $(SYBASE)/interfaces. This # cd /usr/sybase/scripts host to find out the IP address of is the file that controls network- the host name. # source SetVars based database access. # CreateMaster Surprisingly, the isql program, Sybase looks at another environ- The process takes about five min- and in fact any program compiled ment variable, DSLISTEN, to find with the DB-Library routine, con- utes to complete. You can verify out what port the Sybase server is that your system works by using sults NetInfo and not /etc/host for listening to. So before you start the IP address of host names, un- isql, the Sybase command line your server on "alpha", you SQL utility. Type: like the old fashioned server. So should set this variable to some- on machine "beta", you can need # /usr/sybase/bin/isql -Usa -P thing like "setup1". The name is to make sure "beta"'s NetInfo entirely arbitrary. Now modify the manager is aware of machine "al- -Usa means User "sa" (Sybase /usr/sybase/interfaces file on ma- pha". Go to NetManager, Open a Administrator) and -P means no chine "alpha"; add the following host, and see if alpha is already in password. That's how it would be text: the table. if not, create an entry setup in the beginning. Try these with New, then save with Cmd-S. two commands: setup1 (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 6 • Tao #7 - Robert Lin NeXT has evaluated the latest and NeXT's New Strategy: (continued from the previous page) best RISC architectures out there, Connectivity and have, according to sources, If you've followed all this so far, narrowed the choice down to two. you can now be rewarded with the The history of NeXT strategy can No, not the Sparc, not the Motorla wonders of having true network be divided into roughly four parts: 88000, not even the IBM RS/ based SQL server in action. Run first, in the starting days, it was 6000. It's now down to MIPS or isql -Usa -P from "beta", and you "academic computing". After that HP Precision Architecture (PA) will find all your Sybase requests was poorly received by the press, RISC. have been routed over to alpha. it became "best desktop publish- In fact, rumor has it that NeXT ing computer". Money didn't start So in summary, here are the steps: tumbling in, so the battle cry (on machine alpha, using csh) has gone through extensive nego- tiations with both DEC, who use turned to "awesome spreadsheet # setenv SYBASE /usr/sybase MIPS, and HP, on licensing Next- machine with Improv". Now that # setenv DSLISTEN setup1 Step for their prospective UNIX Improv has shipped, and though workstations. One eye witness impressive, is ridiculously miss- (now edit /usr/sybase/interfaces to ing a scripting language. Know- add setup1, then edit /etc/host) claims to have seen NextStep run- ning on HP's new killer worksta- ing that skepticism will quickly # /usr/sybase/bin/dataserver -d/ tion, the HP-9000 series 700 follow from the pundits and the usr/sybase/database/d_master & Snake. press, NeXT is now working on its next marketing strategy, con- (on machine beta, using csh) Will we see NextStep on DecSta- nectivity. # setenv SYBASE /usr/sybase tion or the Snake? It's hard to say. # setenv DSQUERY setup1 NeXT is naturally wary of what To start with, Mac disk formats will be supported in System 3.0. (now edit /usr/sybase/interfaces to happened with IBM's licensing of As well, Steve Jobs has spoken add setup1, then run NetManager NextStep, i.e. nothing. IBM did about Novell and Apple EtherTalk and add "alpha") very little to promote NextStep, connectivity. The plan is to direct- # /usr/sybase/bin/isql -Usa -P understandable since IBM wants to deliver an uniform message to ly convert EtherTalk packets to I've found the performance for its customers: X-windows is the make Macs think NFS is an Ap- network based server to be excep- IBM way. DEC and HP, both OSF pleShare server, and NeXT thinks tionally good. When I run both members like IBM, are obligated AppleShare is NFS. Ditto with my client and server on an 8M and committed to back OSF-1, Novell: you'll be able to run Nov- NeXT, there was quite a bit of Motif, and X-windows. Even if ell applications right off of a paging activity. But with the load NextStep is licensed to either ven- NeXT with NFS, and NeXT apps thus distributed, updates and se- dor, we may not see very much re- can reside on Novell servers. lects were lightning fast. sult. SLIP or DialUp IP will finally be- come a part of System 3.0 as sup- NeXT RISC Rumors More interesting is the prospect of NeXT adapting the MIPS R6000 ported software. Now that the brain dead serial port of the old Just before NeXT's September 64-bit, 50 MIPS monster RISC motherboard has been fixed, we 1990 announcement, rumor was chip, or the even more spectacular can finally do network bridging flying everywhere about a NeXT HP PA-RISC. If the benchmark with a dialup line. RISC. With the introduction of numbers HP engineers toss 68040, rumors were given to rest, around are any indication, such a Cheap Backup and the whole topic fell out of computer will be about five times Alternative fashion. But I have on good sourc- faster than the 68040. Even the es that NeXT is very close to de- biggest, slowest NeXT applica- Many of the new converts into the ciding a RISC strategy. tions will fly with that kind of NeXT world will have bought the muscle. (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 7 • Tao #7 - Robert Lin Software Distribution, Connection (1-800-800-NeXT): (continued from the previous page) NeXT Style $399 list popular NextStations, which has a Being a developer, one really ap- $25 for students floppy drive, but no optical drive. preciates the NeXT for its binary (twenty-five dollars!) The OD drive has a warm place in compatibility. Furthermore, all $75 for faculty/university and my heart as an awesome backup NeXTs have some very good staff (seventy-five dollars) device, but I realize the OD glory "lowest common denominator" To purchase a copy of Diagram!, days are past. NextStation owners support: PostScript on every box, contact NeXTConnection at the cannot use OD, and Cube owners automatic color/mono support number above. A demo version of may be reluctant to shell out $3K (write your code one way, for col- Diagram! is available via ftp from for an OD drive, especially if they or, and it works on all the ma- nova.cc.purdue.edu. It's in pub/ only know about the DAT alterna- chines), standard fax support, a next/demos/Diagram.tar.Z, and tive. Yes, the DAT is the best way minimum 17" of display real es- it'll blow your socks off. to backup your NeXT, and the tate, etc. As we've stated previously, the cheapest too. If NeXT should introduce a RISC only difference between the aca- The NeXT works with the Wang box, I can see that almost all soft- demic and commercial copies is DAT right out of the box. I was ware companies will start to bun- the amount of paper you'll re- able to test and verify this for my- dle both the 68040 and the RISC ceive: all of Diagram!'s documen- self. The Wang DAT costs about version on the distribution disk. tation is available on-line, though $1,500 - $2,000 US, and each 1.3 The compiler will also have the only the commercial copies ship gigabyte cartridge costs a mere ability to generate native code for with paper manuals and full-size $20 US, as opposed to $150 per both 68040 and RISC, so one can boxes. The academic versions are 256M for an optical platter. do cross development on any ma- shipped without manuals, and are chine in the family. NeXT will otherwise identical to the com- To use the Wang DAT, plug into even take this one step further, by mercial distribution. SCSI, turn on power, then power allowing both binaries to be Thank you all for your advice and on your NeXT. Go to Terminal, bound into one file. When execut- patience. We're looking forward and type: ed, the operating system will au- to your reactions. Should you # tar cvf /dev/nrxt0 / tomatically branch to the correct have the inclination, feel free (en- This backs up your entire hard binary. This way, small programs couraged, even) to forward this to disk to the DAT. You can also use and installation programs can run your friends and to the nets. dump or dd. The device mapped on both machines. Larger pro- Jonathan Schwartz to is /dev/nrxt0 and /dev/rxt0. The grammers will want to be split Lighthouse Design, Ltd. difference is /dev/rxt0 will rewind into two binaries, and only one of [email protected] which will be copied to the hard NeXTConnection is available at the tape when the device is closed, ♦ and /dev/nrxt0 won't. disk during installation. the following numbers: To manually rewind the tape, use Domestic: 1-800-800-NeXT this command: Diagram! (1-800-800-6398) International: +1-603-446-3383 # mt rewind Academic Discounts Students will be requested to fax Read the manual pages on mt and or mail a signed statement attest- ing to their status as registered, rxt for the nitty gritty details. You Lighthouse Design is pleased to along with a copy of their student will note the Wang DAT is very announce the availability of aca- ID's, and a printed student ID fast on rewinds. The tape can re- demic discounts for Diagram!, an number with campus address and wind from end to start in less than innovative presentation graphics phone number. Faculty/staff will a minute. The cartridge is also tool for NeXT computers. Dis- be required to provide a university very "cute"; tiny, light, about half counts are available to students purchase order. ♦ the size of a regular cassette tape. and universities through NeXT
SCaNeWS• 8 • The look of Diagram! This is how Diagram! looks on a NeXT Display with an extra palette (NeXT.dpalette, which was downloaded off the net from the nova.cc.purdue.edu site). Note the similarity to Interface Builder with the default palette at the upper right corner and the inspector just below that. The Help system is also displayed along with a primitive diagram which uses some of the objects available from the two palettes. - ed.
SCaNeWS• 9 • This diagram of the Application Kit Hierarchy (i.e. the user interface classes under NeXTstep 2.0) was cre- ated in the Diagram! application by Scott Moyer ([email protected]) and can be downloaded from the sonata.cc.purdue.edu archive site. Documentation for a class can be displayed in the Edit NextApp by an Alt-double-click key combination! - ed. Form PopUpList OpenPanel Menu Slider Matrix Button Scroller TextField MenuCell FontPanel PrintPanel SavePanel NXBrowser PageLayout NXColorWell NXColorPanel NeXTstep 2.0 Application Kit, Alternate-double-click a box to see the documentation for class. Box Text Panel Control ClipView FormCell SliderCell ScrollView ButtonCell NXSplitView TextFieldCell View Window ActionCell Application SelectionCell NXBrowserCell NXEPSImageRep NXBitmapImageRep NXCustomImageRep NXCachedImageRep Cell Font Listener PrintInfo Speaker NXImage NXCursor Responder Pasteboard NXJournaler NXImageRep FontManager Object
SCaNeWS• 10 • - Get NextAnswers for Digital Librarian from one of the many ftp sites (see below) that have NeXT software. NextAnswers is a series of questions and an- swers that the NeXT technical The selection criteria for Usenet 0. Where can I find additional support staff has compiled. postings are based solely on their in- questions and answers regarding They tend to clarify issues not terest. SCaN makes no claim, explicit the NeXT computer? (this question covered or poorly covered in or implied, as to the accuracy of the is really never asked but really the on-line documentation. information contained in these ex- should be :-) Anyone can send bugs or sug- cerpts. We also assume that people gestions to [email protected] Every NeXT machine owner has ac- com who post on Usenet will enjoy seeing cess to manuals to a degree. Net- their words in print. Alison Bomar - Another good source of infor- work and System Administration mation is the archives of previ- ([email protected]) gathered this (NSA), for example contains an- stuff off the net - ed. ously posted notes from the swers to many of the questions asked comp.sys.next newsgroup. All (More) to comp.sys.next. Some of the im- articles sent to comp.sys.next portant man pages are reproduced in are archived on brownvm.- Frequently the NSA as appendices. brown.edu. Send a note to list- - User manuals are shipped with ev- [email protected] Asked ery NeXT. Additional copies avail- containing the command Questions able from NeXT (N6002/N6003/ “INFO?” on a single line (by it- N6014/N6026) $25. self). The list of articles is called NEXT-L. Pascal Chesnais - NeXT Technical documentation . John Garnett (How to program in the NextStep It can not be overly emphasized Erik Kay environment). Order from NeXT that getting the on-line docu- (FAQ e-mail address below) (N6007B) $95. The “Extended” re- mentation from 2.0 extended lease contains on-line versions of the will help enormously in re- (see the first set of these “Reference” (but not “Concepts”) searching problems with the questions with answers chapters. aid of digital librarian. in the February SCaNeWS) - man pages , included with “Extend- 1. Is there a NeXT specific The information contained in this ed” release. magazine? post is a compilation of answers to Yes. There are also many questions posted by participants in - BSD unix documentation (MISC, PS1, PS2, SMM, USD). Available NeXT specific newsletters, the comp.sys.next USENET group. many of which are available No guarantees are made regarding from to USENIX site members. A via ftp from the NeXT specific the correctness of these responses. lot of this has been integrated into ftp sites (look in pub/next/ This will get posted to comp.sys.next the NeXT documentation. Some of newsletters on cs.orst.edu and about every other week. There is this is sorely missing. pub/next/Newsletters on no- currently no particular order to this - Adobe documentation . Available va.cc.purdue.edu - purdue list, items get added and removed machine-readable by e-mail from ps- seems to carry more newslet- over time. [email protected]. Hardcopy ters on line than orst.). Some Note: We are not affiliated with any available from Adobe Developer cost money, others don't. of the companies mentioned in this Support Line +1 415 961-4111 for a posting. If you have any corrections, nominal charge. NeXT last shipped Available from purdue: additions, questions, or answers to these as part of the 1.0a release; SCaNeWS - Southern Calif. add to this list, please send email to hardcopies appeared in 0.9 Technical NeXT Users Group Newsletter, [email protected]. Documentation. (continued on the next page) mit.edu SCaNeWS• 11 • Frequently Asked Questions What's NeXT? The Boston Com- 4. What type of memory may be (continued from the previous page) puter Society NeXT User group installed in a NeXT? first issue came out January 1991. produces a NeXT newsletter Use Mac II-style SIMMS, 100ns Edited by Mike Mahoney (ma- called "What's NeXT?". BCS or faster. SIMMS must be in- [email protected]) may be reached at 1 Center Plaza, stalled in groups of four. The Boston, MA 02108. BANG - Bay Area NeXT Users NeXT can use either 1MB or Group, one item on-line on Pur- 2. What are the names of some 4MB SIMMS. Most people are due. Edited by Robert Nielson of the ftp sites that have NeXT- buying 80ns SIMMS in order to ([email protected]). related files? be more sure of future compatibil- ity. Also, note that the low-profile Tao - an irregular newsletter writ- There are too many to list them vertically mounted 4MB SIMMS ten by Robert Lin. It usually has all, so are here are just a few: are easier to install in the NeXT a good number of rumours, and is cube than the horizontally mount- fun to read. NeXT : cs.orst.edu, ed 4MB SIMMS because of the rmNUG - Rocky Mountain NeXT nova.cc.purdue.edu, small height clearance above the Users Group Newsletter, latest is- sonata.cc.purdue.edu, SIMM slots. It is possible to in- sue February 1991. Edited by umd5.umd.edu, and stall the horizontally mounted David Bowdish eesun1.arl.utexas.edu 4MB SIMMS but you will be re- ([email protected]). quired to slide the CPU board MIT GNU : and the hard drive in simulta- NeXTVieW - Vancouver NeXT aeneas.mit.edu neously. Note that parity (9-bit) Users Group music: princeton.edu RAMS can be used in both the NeXT Users' Journal , latest issue See NextAnswers for more site- 030 NeXT and the 040 NeXT. December/January 1990-1. Edit- names. Parity and non-parity SIMMS can ed by Erica Liebman (erica@- be mixed in both the 030 and the kong.gatech.edu). 3. If I am not on the Internet, 040 (however, the boot on 040 Hardcopy : how can I get to the ftp sites via boxes will generate a warning). email? Only the 040 NeXT can use the Baran's Tech Letter Published cc.purdue.edu is configured as an parity memory to detect parity er- once a month for $125/year Con- rors (parity and non-parity may tact: Nicholas Baran POBox 876, email archive server. This means you can upload and download not be mixed if you wish to have Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864-0876 parity errors detected). 2.2 (v63) email: [email protected] files via email. Send mail to: ar- [email protected] with the ROM lets you disable parity NeXT on Campus NeXT develop- subject line help and you will get checking (NVRAM preference). ments in academia. Call NeXT at a complete description of this ser- 2.1 (v59) does not. 1-800-848-NeXT for free sub- vice. Color NeXTstations, and the scription info. submissions: Mail should be sent NeXTdimensions will be using a NeXTWORLD Published six to [email protected] different packaging for memory. times a year ($23.95). NeXT- with the subject of 'submission' They will be in a 72pin housing, WORLD, 501 Second Street, San (no ticks) if a person is submitting are organized 256kx32 or 1Mx32 Francisco, CA 94107 415 978 material to the archives. They for non-parity systems, and 3182 (phone), 415 978 3196 (fax) need to include a 1-2 sentence de- 256kx36 and 1Mx36 for parity. NeXTworld email address: ddi- scription of the submission, the They must be 80ns or faster. As of [email protected] OS release the product runs on, 2-28-91, we are aware of only one supplier (other than NeXT) of this NeXUS Published bi-monthly for and if it is source, binary, newslet- ter, etc. type of memory. Until the num- $36/year. Contact Alfonso Guer- ber of vendors known to offer ra at {emory|gatech}!nanovx!- nexus. (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 12 • Frequently Asked Questions The sdform program does not of- with one processor. This config- (continued from the previous page) fer much flexibility. uration can not be changed with- this type of memory increases, we [If someone is keeping a list of out access to the kernel sources. will list that one supplier here for drives that work with the NeXT [hopefully NeXT will offer a mul- the benefit of those on constrained we would like to know about it. tiprocessor version of the NeXT budgets: SouthCoast Electronics Also there was talk about Mac operating system at some future (213) 208-3260. drives *not* working on the date] Given how dynamic the prices are NeXT due to their implementa- Some have asked about the possi- in the memory market we can not tion of the SCSI standard.] bility of installing the 030 board provide an accurate compilation for use as a printserver or other of suppliers and prices. 6. What alternative printers (la- CPU-intensive task server. In this ser or otherwise) may be used hypothetical setup, each CPU 5. What disk drives will work with the NeXT? Are there limita- would run its own copy of the op- with the NeXT? tions or other considerations of erating system (essentially two which I should I be aware. different computers sharing the First get a copy of NextAnswers same cube). This might be and review hardware.586 Adding supported postscript printers is rather simple: 1- get a workable except for the fact that Most scsi disk drives will work serial cable 2- configure using even if the NBIC (NextBus Inter- with 2.0 without modifying disk- Print Manager 3- configure print- face Chip) chip is removed, the tab. You should read the Network er communication according to CPU board probes the bus for and Systems Administrator manu- manufacturer's recommendations. slot ID [**a conflicting report al provided with all new systems (9600baud software flow control). comes from Richard Dib who and available on-line on 2.0 ex- [the above was from someone's heard that someone ran a cube tended. There have been prob- experience connecting a Laserjet with the CPU in another slot]. lems with the installation of boot IIP with 2Mbyte memory] You could do hardware modifica- blocks and badly formed fstab tion to the 030 board which would generated by BuildDisk. A disk [a more meaningful response is isolate it enough to use only the connected to the NeXT will need needed here] If you are using 2.0 cube as a power supply, however to have a NeXT specific label and you use remote non-next you can not run two monochrome written to it before it can be prop- printers, there is a bug that can be monitor heads off the cube power erly recognized by the system. If simply corrected by doing "dwrite supply. In this case you would you get an error message "Invalid system PrinterResolution 1" for probably want to first boot the 030 Label..." this indicates that the each user trying to access non- with a display head, set the boot drive was successfully seen by the next printers on the network. prom to boot off ttya, and attach NeXT machine but it does not an ascii terminal to that serial have the proper label, to install a 7. Can I put both an 030 and an port. label use the /usr/etc/disk pro- 040 system board in a single NeXT cube? gram on the raw disk device that 8. How can I print only the even the system assigned to the device [Note that we have no first hand or odd pages of a document? I and use the label command to experience with this problem, we wish print on both sides by feed- write the label onto the disk. have compiled what we consider ing the paper through twice. [how the NeXT assigns disk de- to be an accurate report. We ac- vices is explained in the N&SA knowledge conflicting reports We must recommend against re- manual] where appropriate.] using laser printed paper in your printers. The reason is that the NeXT provides a low level disk In general Mach may be config- toner which is used is not very formatter with 2.0, most drives are ured as a multiprocessor operat- robust, in that when heated again already formatted at the factory. ing system; however, the NeXT (which happens when you print) it kernel is only configured to deal (continued on the next page)
SCaNeWS• 13 • Frequently Asked Questions ting can take 10-20% of the The NeXT 400dpi printer powers (continued from the previous page) capacity depending on the sector up every time you boot up when can come off the other side of the size. Common sector sizes are the print daemon is started (/usr/ paper. This causes a mess to ac- 512 and 1024. Generally, bigger lib/NextPrinter/npd in /etc/rc). cumulate in your printer, and sectors mean less waste. Apart from not running the dae- probably some pretty rude things Once formatted, the UNIX file mon at boot time (commenting it to happen. system must be created. On the out and having to run it by hand NeXT, this is one of the steps per- later), you can add the following Now to address the even/odd line to /etc/rc.local stuff, essentially you need to write formed by the BuildDisk applica- a postscript filter which extracts tion. It invokes the mkfs /usr/etc/nppower off every other page. So you would command to make a file system. to immediate turn off the printer. save your WriteNow document to This reserves space for the UNIX Once you queue a print job the postscript file, run the filters, and file system (e.g., superblocks, in- printer daemon will automatical- then print the two documents with ode tables). This overhead can ly power up the NeXT printer for lpr. There is no packaged filter take another 2-3% of the avail- you. The printer daemon will not on the NeXT to do this. Corey able disk space. automatically power off the ma- Satten
SCaNeWS• 14 • cell relationships are not directly The categories concept was im- Improv: evident, and the s/s must be que- plemented in a way that grants the ried before it can be understood user great flexibility in viewing An In-Depth Look by even the person who pro- the data. For instance, you may grammed it. With Improv wish to change the axis for a cate- Dick Benster, BANG profit = sales - cost gory that currently is organized to display in the X-axis. Rather than is very clear. No steps backward redoing the whole s/s, you just This look at Improv was taken to investigate are required to con- drag it graphically to the Y-axis from the February BANG meeting tinue development weeks later. and you get a whole new view of summary. It was posted on the net A very important aspect of Im- your data with no programming! by Joe Barello (joeba@mind- You can have up to 4 categories craft.com). The summary refers prov is its ability to handle “cate- gories.” An example of the use of per axis, for a total of 12 catego- to an Improv demo given by NeXT ries maximum. employee Dave Grady. The text categories power can be found in below was written by Dick Ben- simple financial planning, where Another nice ability of Improv is ster of La Honda Software. - ed. you could create three categories: to collapse groups for summary plan, actual, and variance. As the purposes. You may take a de- Improv leads the Charge into names imply, the plan category tailed break-down of expenses the Brave New World of would be your forecast s/s, the ac- (simply organized as a group), Spreadsheets tual would be the true data, and and with no programming, merely Dave began by contrasting ap- the variance would be the differ- request Improv to collapse that proaching a problem with a tradi- ence. By first setting up a single group into its summary totals just tional spreadsheet (s/s) versus spreadsheet, and then creating the with a mouse click. Improv. With the traditional s/s three categories, the simple for- both the formula and data belong mula of Dave went through many other capabilities of the spreadsheet be- to cells - an example would be set- variance = plan - actual ting one cell to the sum of a group yond the scope of this review, in- of other cells. Since you specify would compute the entire vari- cluding the use of different views, the actual geographic relation- ance category with no other for- worksheets, and models. Briefly, ships of all the cells, it immediate- mulas needed (as always you have models can contain multiple ly becomes inflexible. If you to enter the data for the plan and worksheets and views. You can want to physically relayout your actual cells). Older s/s would re- link worksheets within a model, s/s, all your formulas must be re- quire tedious cell-by-cell formu- but not across models. The whole done to reflect the new spatial re- las. point of Improv is to allow a cap- lationships. Another useful feature of Improv turing of many views of a world is the explicit way it resolves with your s/s, giving maximum Improv, in contrast, allows rela- flexibility as to how you view this tionships to be expressed algebra- equation conflicts. Often times, a “row” formula and a “column” data without requiring constant ically with English formulas. reprogramming. While simple in concept, this is a formula may intersect - old s/s huge improvement. Not only is it would simply have the most cur- In the limitations world, Improv more flexible when you wish to rently defined formula for that cell does support Lotus 1,2,3 data, but revise your s/s, it is also facilitates take precedence. In Improv, all Improv has no macro capability working with a particular s/s over such conflicts are graphically (but note that many things that time. Who knows what flagged, and the user explicitly macros are used for are supported chooses the desired formula. This by Improv directly), nor an undo “A3 = A2 - A1” avoids a very nasty class of errors command. A macro capability is means four weeks after setup on a where you're not computing what anticipated in fall '91. you think you expect. traditional s/s. The formulas and (continued on the next page, column 3)
SCaNeWS• 15 • point and anchors a line to it. This Software Review: Improv: In-Depth makes it very easy to connect or (continued from the previous page) point to an object. It makes all the In retrospect, it is interesting to connections between the objects Diagram! ask why Lotus put Improv on the nice and easy. The alignment op- NeXT. According to Dave, a ma- tions are also flexible. You can jor reason was simply that they Terry Chen align objects by any of the 8 han- COULD! The combination of Andresen Typographics dles when an object is selected. virtual memory, an OOP language Another nice feature is linking. I am a brand new user to the (Objective C), and a quality inter- NeXT Computer. I’ve worked my You can link a file or sound to an face builder (IB) made the NeXT way up from an Apple II, to an object on the canvas. For exam- machine the best choice, and pos- IBM and now am using the Mac- ple, if you have a complicated sibly the only reasonable choice at intosh for most of my computing flowchart, you can add voice the time. Interestingly, Improv needs. I currently use the Mac as notes to specific items to explain had been started on another plat- a graphics design tool, 3D anima- them. Using the sound kit, Dia- form, but the project was running tion, and color pre-press. So far, I gram! allows you to record into great difficulties before being am very impressed with the sounds while you are creating di- moved to NeXT machines. agrams. A bigger advantage is NeXT, and I think it is definitely a Please note that Improv started platform worth investing in. file linking. Not only you can ref- erence your diagrams, you can shipping 4-Feb-91 (DB: NeXT Diagram! allows the user to create also link any document to an ob- says freebee deliveries to recent flow charts and diagrams easily. It ject simply by dragging a file over machine purchasers should show ♦ takes full advantage of the NeXT- an object. It links much like hy- up by end-March). step interface, using an interface pertext. It will reference back and similar to the Interface Builder. forth. A good example is their Diagram! works like most object- help system. It is actually a dia- oriented graphics programs. Ev- gram created by the program. NeXT SCaN ery item is an object with handles. You get to a help window, and you Meeting You simply pick up the object to can reference between beginner, place and size it wherever you expert, quick reference help. It May 7 - UCLA want it on the canvas window. simply links to another diagram The biggest difference you notice for that specific diagram. You can contact us for details is that there is no toolbox. It uses then move on to the next linked an object palette like the Interface help, or back up by clicking on the Builder. There are several pal- same link icon that took you there. ettes that come with the applica- You can also use that to break SOFTWARE tion. You can open them as you down large complex diagrams, or need them, or you can create a flowcharts. It will clearly show DONATIONS new palette with the objects you and divide the different sections The following software has been use most often or objects from for organization. donated to SCaN: other applications via cut and Overall, I feel that the Diagram! is Diagram! (Lighthouse Design) paste. An inspector window is very useful and can be productive. Improv (Lotus) available to show and change the It is easy to use, and everything TextArt (Stone Design) attributes of the selected object. works logically. I recommend a TouchType (RightBrain) The operation is smooth and fa- drawing program in addition to it WordPerfect (WordPerfect) miliar if you have worked with the so that you can create the specific NeXT at all. shapes that you need. Diagram! We thank the companies and indi- By clicking on the canvas without will be beneficial to anyone who viduals involved. ♦ selecting an object, it creates a has the need for diagrams. ♦
SCaNeWS• 16 • MARCH MADNESS ware. However, it should not be and entertaining demo. See the (continued from page 1) assumed that Touch will be bun- article on page 15 of this newslet- Some other news items: dled with future releases. ter for an in-depth look at Improv . • NeXT, Inc. has changed its The April issue of NeXTWORLD At the meeting we also distributed name to NeXT Computer, Inc. is about as good as the premiere free copies of the premiere issue • In conjunction with each of Lo- issue and probably worth the of NeXTWORLD , the Feb. issue of tus, WordPerfect or Motorola, $4.95 price tag - although $4.95 is SCaNeWS and the Dec/January NeXT has been taking out full a bit much. On page 67 an entire issue of the NeXT Users’ Journal . two page ads in PC-Week, paragraph is devoted to SCaN, Rick Jackson of NeXT will bring UNIX Today and other pubs. thanks to Conrad. We hope this a NeXTstation Color Computer to recognition generates more users, the March 28 meeting at CSU • There is a new NeXT archive donations and speakers for SCaN. site at Washington University Long Beach and demonstrate Di- at St. Louis. The address The February 28 meeting at CSU agram ! and WordPerfect . We will is: wuarchive.wustl.edu Los Angeles was almost a wash- also be distributing this newsletter (128.252.135.4). Look in the out due to the heaviest rain (and and the Winter 1991 issue of "systems/next" directory. hail) seen in Southern California NeXT on Campus . in years and a very tight schedule If anyone out there would like to • According to NeXT User for our speaker, Jeanne Heston of Group head Conrad Geiger, host a future SCaN meeting at Lotus. To our great relief, howev- their location please let us know. there are now 110 “official” er, Jeanne walked in about a half NeXT user groups (really?) For any meeting we'll send out the an hour into the meeting with a announcements, provide the • Steve Jobs got married on big smile on her face, having driv- goodies, arrange the speakers and March 18 (does this indicate the en straight from the airport. A bring copies of newsletters. release of a NeXT Jr.?) sincere thanks to Roland Carpen- Future contributions to SCaNeWS I’ve been beta-testing Touch , an ter of the CSULA Physics and As- tronomy Department for keeping include an intro to Objective-C for experimental application written C programmers and my Interface by Joshua Doenias of NeXT’s things moving by demonstrating his interesting Black Hole Orbit Builder tutorial from ACM’s Scientific Computation group CHI’91 conference. It’ll have to which is headed by Richard Cran- Explorer program on the spur of the moment. You can learn more wait until the May issue, after the dall. Touch currently exists to conference. We'll also have sever- show the connectivity potential of about this and other apps written by CSULA faculty in the next is- al reviews of donated software NeXT products and does it very (see the list on the previous page). well. With Touch you can use the sue of NeXT on Campus . file transfer protocol (ftp) utility The February turnout of about 35 This issue, our third, may not be via the NeXTstep interface. After people was pretty decent consid- as pretty as previous ones because setting up Internet names, ac- ering the weather - which con- SCaN secretary and frame maker counts (including anonymous) vinced me further of the extraordinaire Lorraine is too and passwords, Touch will log dedication of NeXT enthusiasts. swamped with her time-consum- you in to a remote site automati- The meeting featured Jeanne ing graduate courses and thesis to cally and bring up a File Viewer showing off Lotus Improv’s re- have time for the newsletter this which displays the file system at markable features such as refor- month. Please give her some that site. You can then drag files matting all the data in a well-deserved credit for all the from this File Viewer into one of spreadsheet with a simple drag of work she did on the January and your directories (i.e. download a tile or two which represent data February SCaNeWS issues and files) or perform other file opera- categories. Many thanks to Lotus convince her to come back! By tions. Non-UNIX users will cer- and the Weber Group (who con- the way, we can really use some tainly appreciate the ease with tacted us and set up Jeanne’s help with the newsletter in many which one can download files demo) and especially Jeanne, who areas, so contact us if you want to ♦ from an archive site with this soft- flew in and gave an informative help and become famous.
SCaNeWS• 17 • SCaNeWS’ Role in the Downloading SCaNeWS (from an Archive) NeXT User Community If you miss(ed) any issues of SCaNeWS and have access to Internet, you can obtain them via anony- Our goals in distributing SCaNeWS are modest. We mous file transfer protocol (ftp) as follows ( bold in- are geared more toward the needs of end-users, stu- dicates onscreen prompts, italics what you type): dents and faculty than those of developers. Devel- At your local system prompt, type opers may find our newsletter interesting but perhaps not as technically oriented as they may ftp -n nova.cc.purdue.edu like. Among our regular features we plan to in- ftp> user anonymous
SCaNeWS CONTRIBUTORS SCaN OFFICERS
Alison Bomar (reading/compiling the net) PRESIDENT: Michael K. Mahoney Terry Chen Computer Engineering/Science Dept. Robert Lin California State University Mike Mahoney Long Beach, CA 90840 Alan M. Marcum (213) 985-1550 off the net: [email protected] Mark Adler Dick Benster VICE-PRESIDENT: Bob Desharnais Pascal Chesnais (213) 343-2056 John Garnett [email protected] Erik Kay SECRETARY: Lorraine Rapp Editor: [email protected] Mike Mahoney If you would like to submit an article to TREASURER: Henry Chiu SCaNeWS , contact Mike or Lorraine. [email protected] Articles are copyrighted by their authors. If you have any comments or questions about SCaNeWS is composed using FrameMaker ™ SCaN, please contact one of the above officers.
SCaNeWS • 18 •