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The tkWorld Project Objective
January 11, 1999
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DEFINITION
----------
In this document, Unix refers to all the different vendor versions,
including Linux, NetBSD, and FreeBSD, which are known as the Unix
Operating System.
Objective
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The success of Unix depends heavily, now more than ever, on the
progress of its User Interface. The various Unix operating systems
are technically superior products, and the Window Managers available
move toward a graphical look and feel, but the applications are far
behind. For Unix to move into the client, of the client/server OS
market, and become active in the Home PC market, the standard
applications and utilities will need to provide Graphical User
Interfaces (GUIs).
There are several reasons the GUI has not become a part of the Unix
Operating System. One reason is that Xwindows programming has never
been easy. Even with the advent of the Xt, Athena, and Motif widgets,
several thousand lines of code have to be written to produce a working
application. As a result, most developers have contributed utilities
which use Command Line Options (CLOs) to vary the behavior and output
of the application, instead of using more user friendly tools like
pull-down menus and toolbars.
The direct result of this unfriendly interface is that only a few
spend the time required to learn how to use Unix. Instead, most users
opt for an operating system that gets their job done quickly, and has
a more user friendly interface. If Unix is going to grow, reliance on
the shell must be reduced to a minimum, while the number of GUI
applications must continue to grow.
The mission of tkWorld is to provide GUIs to the standard Unix
utilities. All applications will have a standard look and feel, as
well as provide point and click access to common command line options.
Providing a common Application Interface will help beginners learn
Unix, while giving advanced users easy access to the options they
already know. If this coexistence between users with varying levels
can be achieved, tkWorld can help strengthen Unix in the OS market.
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