[Info-vax] Ghostscript and HTML Browser on X86

[Dave Froble]

On 12/14/2022 12:15 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2022-12-14 kl. 15:37, skrev chris:
>> On 12/12/22 15:36, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> On 12/12/2022 10:07 AM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
>>>> In article <tn7fft$1i5h$1 at gioia.aioe.org>, =?UTF-8?Q?Arne_Vajh=c3=b8j?=
>>>> <arne at vajhoej.dk> writes:
>>>>> Web browser is an entirely different story. I think the short
>>>>> version is that it will not happen.
>>>>
>>>> I remember when people were saying that VMS on x86 would never happen.
>>>
>>> x86-64 became more capable and Alpha and Itanium was dropped, so
>>> suddenly there were a business case for porting VMS to x86-64.
>>>
>>> Maybe it is my lack of imagination, but I cannot see any change
>>> in circumstances that would create a business case for web browser
>>> on VMS.
>>>
>>
>> Ridiculous situation, for any modern os not to have html browser
>> support. Admin and other everyday tasks have required the use of a
>> html browser for decades now and the lack of puts vms at a serious
>> disadvantage from a systems management point of view. People still
>> think a text only interface is good enough in 2022 ?, complately
>> naive.
>>
>> Not easy to build Firefox, tried it here, endless dependencies on
>> other packages, but it will be needed, vms kicking and screaming or
>> not...
>>
>> Chris
>>
>
> I must have completely missed the whole "web-thing"...

No, you didn't.  Those others did.

:-)

> I thought that any web-browser must have a web-server to actually
> do any "work" at all. You cannot do much with a browser alone.

Ayep!

> Only having a browser on VMS doesn't help much...
>
> And if you have a web server on VMS, the browser can run anyware.
>
> And it is much more practical to use the same browser that you use
> for everything else, the one on your laptop/desktop system. Or is
> you plan to use the VMS browser for all your other everyday tasks?

There are more than a few issues.

If a web server doesn't implement all the functionality that a basic CLI 
provides, then the browser cannot serve those options.

Quite often, a web server interface to various tools, apps, and such is added on 
over top of whatever command set the tool, app, and such provides, and, perhaps 
by different people.  Having 100% compatibility can be questionable.

On the other hand, if the web server implements all possible commands,  then it 
can be much easier to use.  If I haven't done a particular task for some length 
of time, I perhaps have forgotten things, and a good job of implementing the 
task(s) on a web server can be helpful.

As Jan-Erik has mentioned, where the user's browser is running is rather 
flexible.  But you must have the web server.

-- 
David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
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