Re: GNOME and DOS

[Ali Abdin <aliabdin aucegypt edu>]

* Charles Iliya Krempeaux (aliensoldier@home.com) wrote at 20:49 on 02/08/00:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Vikas Yadav wrote:
> > 
> > "Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH" wrote:
> > >
> > > On 08/01/00 09:49:11 -0700 Charles Iliya Krempeaux <aliensoldier@home.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > +-----
> > > | I'd imagine DOS having...
> > > |
> > > |       o no shared libraries
> > > |       o no long file names (... DOS has the 8.3 format)
> > Reading the FAT in raw from disk without the use of INT21h?
> > > |       o no multitasking
> > This is where I think the world stops for DOS. I do not know there is
> > any
> > native multitaking kernel in dos at all.
> > > |       o no protected memory spaces
> > DJGPP is expert in protected mode (DPMI)
> > > |       o no multiuser system (... that's probably not a big deal)
> > > |
> > > | Would make GNOME running on DOS difficult.
> > > +--->8
> > >
> > > But not impossible.  Check around for copies of DESQview/X 2.x; it gives
> > > you  the first three plus a working X server, and you should be able to
> > > still find the djgpp development libraries for it.
> > >
> > > --
> > > brandon s. allbery     [os/2][linux][solaris][japh]    allbery@kf8nh.apk.net
> > > system administrator        [WAY too many hats]          allbery@ece.cmu.edu
> > > electrical & computer engineering                                      KF8NH
> > > carnegie mellon university      ["better check the oblivious first" -ke6sls]
> > 
> > When I tried to compile GTK+ the problem was "-lXt" as the first reply
> > said Xwindows
> > and this libxt.a both are no where near DOS.
> > I do not know anything about Xwindows and GTK cannot live without it.
> 
> 
> GTK *can* live without the 'X Windows System'.  But that's where some work
> comes in!  This is the part that you'd have to 'port'.  You need to use some
> graphics library for DOS, and then replace the 'X Windows System' stuff
> with calls to that DOS-graphics-library (that you choose).  (Maybe Allegro
> or something.)
> 
> This type of thing has already been done to port GTK to Win32.  (I think
> originally, the Win32 port replaced the 'X Windows System' stuff with calls
> to the GDI, and then replaced that with DirectDraw... but I'm not sure.)

Yes - all you have to really port is gdk to whatever graphics subsystem you
wish to use. 

For example, to get Gtk+ to work with the frambuffer, Sopwith did not have to
re-code all of Gtk+, he just had to port gdk to the framebuffer.

Gtk+ is built around Gdk specifically for this purpose (so you can port Gdk to
Win32 (done already), to the Mac, to BeOS, to the framebuffer, etc., etc.)