Hi Karl, hi Ken, hi,

Karl - 04.10.24, 20:56:21 CEST:
> > Unless… you aim for a minimal desktop *specifically* for what you
> > wrote about the AlphaServer – CDE has Desktop Environment in its
> > name, but its dependency structure has very likely been a huge lot
> > less complex than the
> > dependency structure of today's desktop environments even minimal
> > ones:
>
> Yes, life was a log simpler then...
>
> CDE is motif window manager (mwm) + some buttons etc. down mid to start
> a few programs with and a set of standard (for CDE) programs.

I used it under AIX with IBM PowerPC based workstations at university back
then. Back then I did not really understand what it was composed of, so
thanks for clarifying that. Despite "Desktop Environment" in its name its
basically a WM + a toolbar and a few programs using a common toolkit /
appearance if I understand it correctly.

But I do remember that those IBM PowerPC based workstations, I think they
were using from PowerPC 601, 603, 604 or something like that processor, I
bet even 604 already, were rock stable. They just worked. Period.

Some faculties of the university were using x86 PCs with some old Windows
version (95/98?) and I have been told by university admins: These caused a
lot of trouble. But those faculties that were using those IBM PowerPC
based workstations: No trouble at all.

> At that time there were no cups and you could choose between bsd or
> sysV style printing, and yes, printers were either PostScript or thoose
> where one byte to printer mostly meant one character printed.

Just for clarity. I just described the status quo at it is.

I did not judge it. Yes, having a simple desktop without a crazy chain of
nested dependencies can be a desirable goal. No doubt about it.

I started using a GUI desktop with the Amiga. With AmigaOS 1.2/1.3. It was
very simple. I can still tell you what every file in the OS does. Even with
AmigaOS 3.1 or the new 3.2. Take that for clarity.

I just commented on how realistic it would be when using a modern desktop
environment within Debian, Devuan or another Debian, RHEL, SLES based
distribution. And a lot of other distributions.

There may be distributions out there doing things a bit differently of
course. Especially with source based distribution you can obtain more
customization.

Not all got better in the past decades. On the other hand a modern Plasma
desktop can do a lot more than a CDE desktop. And I am using quite some of
its power user features.

Best,
--
Martin