11 Jan 2001 tony   » (Journeyer)

Entity
I haven't contributed anything to Entity yet. I have started an HTML renderer similar to the GTK+ renderer; the idea being the same entity code that creates Gtk+ widgets on the screen can create an HTTP stream of HTML/JS widgets; that is, a web server that serves up Entity applications, and the applications can be designed and built using Stembuilder.

I haven't gotten very far.

It has nothing to do with Entity, which is well-designed (IMHO). I just don't have time for outside activities these days, it seems. Work takes a lot of time, as does the house (though I must say I am now proficient at drywalling).

Sounds like a cop-out, doesn't it? It's not, really. I can devote some time from work to coding, once I've knocked out a few of my current projects.

Sunrays
One of my current projects is the deployment of Sunrays across the consortium. We currently use NCD X terminals on most of the desktops (with a few PCs for the diehards), and Sun hardware in the back room. This has worked very well for us, but since NCD has stopped development on their X terminals, we've not had a good idea for their replacement. We tried Netwinders (which were OK, but expensive), iPAQs (ditto), and Sunrays. Of the bunch, the Sunrays look the most promising. Although they have their own drawbacks (they are true thin-clients, and every client has an X server running on a Sun box), they have a lot of potential, as well.

What I like: the Sunrays have a card slot. Each user is given a card. If you log in with the card in the slot, your session is tied to the card; you can remove your card from one Sunray, walk across the room (or across the hospital) and insert your card, and viola! your session appears at the new Sunray. And securing your session is as easy as removing the card and placing it in your pocket-- true physical security.

And, it allows us to use the Sunrays and X terminals in the same environment.

Also, I convinced my boss to use Windowmaker as the standard desktop. Cool.

What I dislike: I hate that it is tied to Sun hardware. I like Sun machines for the most part, but I dislike proprietary protocols.

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