a) Some people use … and prefer … Linux or Unix workstations
b) You’ll never be able to run the Windows GUI on the Cloverleaf box in a pinch …. unless you’re running Cloverleaf on Windows
c) Personally, I prefer a long-running GUI on the Cloverleaf system that I (or someone else) can access by VNC from home or work, whether to change anything or just to monitor the interfaces. Of course, I already avoid the Java GUI in favor of the old “Network Monitor”, since the Java GUI is not recommended to be run on the Cloverleaf server if you’re on AIX. But with a Windows client it will not only be “not recommended”, but also, “not possible”.
Granted, the old TCL/TK GUI’s were dated. But then, they were old. The Java GUI was better organized and better appearing, but seemed to lose some functionality and be noticeably slower. And not very VNC-friendly, since it seemed to spend so much of its time redrawing itself.
It’s very possible to make TK gui’s look modern and be functional, with probably less effort still than most tookits. And you get a cross-platform GUI in the bargain. And since TK uses native components where possible, it would still look like a pure-native Windows GUI.
Besides, using the new “Starkit” functionality available in TCL now, client installation could be reduced to copying two files to the client and setting up a shortcut.
Strange that I would argue for TCL/TK, since it’s only because of Cloverleaf that I ever learned TCL ….
