Re: NeXTstep interface

[Johannes Brakensiek]

Hi Simon,

On 28 Sep 2020, at 0:43, Simon Gornall wrote:

> So I came across this 
> (https://www.ninamakes.co.uk/builds/next-computer-replica-raspberry-pi-case/ 
> <https://www.ninamakes.co.uk/builds/next-computer-replica-raspberry-pi-case/>) 
> and it’d be pretty cool to have a NeXT-like interface running on the 
> Pi in that enclosure, and I assume running GNUstep is the best way to 
> do something like that.
>
> Any hints on what’s the best way to go about this, starting from 
> scratch ?
>
> Is it even possible to get the NeXT window manager experience ? Etoile 
> looks to have a different ‘look-and-feel’ from the screenshots 
> I’ve seen, although Nextspace 
> (https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace 
> <https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace>) looks pretty realistic to 
> my untutored eye, and also runs with Centos 8, although it may not 
> work with the PI (it looks pretty focussed on x86).

you can get the basic GNUstep experience on any Debian based system by 
just installing WindowMaker (wmaker) and GNUstep with GWorkspace via 
apt. This works well using Raspbian f.e., see 
http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/Platform:Linux#Debian

You can install Nextspace as well (libobjc2 works on ARM since its last 
release). But you will need to compile and install it yourself. 
Packaging for Debian is still work in progress and does not lead to a 
fully working environment yet. rpm packaging for other platforms seems 
to be implemented currently as well. See 
https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace/tree/master/Packaging for that 
progress.

Good luck
Johannes