If your programs depend on CDE, you could try to compile them against
lesstif2,
that's an LGPL implementation of Motif, on top of just the X libraries.

I don't know if it's binary-compatible or if it's actively maintained.

Frits

> And why actually there is no package for it in repository?
> While we have around 30,000 apps (and 50,000 binaries)
> in Sid, I think there is a place for both XForms and CDE,
> assuming they are both fully open-sourced now.
> Maybe they will be a bit more popular then.
>
> My two cents,
>
> Mitt