Newsgroups: comp.archives
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!ox.com!msen.com!emv
From: rthomson@mesa.dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson)
Subject: [comp.ivideodisc...] Re: Galatea 2.5 Alpha
Message-ID: <1991Mar31.205716.19839@ox.com>
Followup-To: comp.ivideodisc,comp.multimedia
Keywords: galatea videodisc control server
Sender: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
Reply-To: rthomson@dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson)
Organization: Design Systems Division, Evans & Sutherland, SLC, UT
References: <5564@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <1991Mar31.192850.17304@dsd.es.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1991 20:57:16 GMT
Approved: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
X-Original-Newsgroups: comp.ivideodisc,comp.multimedia

Archive-name: hardware/video/galatea/1991-03-31
Archive: media-lab.media.mit.edu:/galatea/galatea.2.5a.tar.Z [18.85.0.2]
Original-posting-by: rthomson@mesa.dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson)
Original-subject: Re: Galatea 2.5 Alpha
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)

In article <5564@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
	danapple@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Daniel I. Applebaum) writes:
>An ALPHA versino of Galatea 2.5 is now available via anonymous ftp from
>media-lab.media.mit.edu (Internet 18.85.0.2).  Feel free to take a copy
>of this software.  I would most appreciate any bug reports, as I hope to
>create a more solid version in the next month or so.

Gee, sounds great.  What does it do?   A common oversight when
announcing new versions of FTPable software on the net is to not
include a short description of the capabilities of the software.
This was recently done on comp.windows.x with the announcement of the
new XPM library.

For future reference, please include a description of the software
along with the new capabilities of the latest release.  For the
benefit of others, I'll include the "galatea.announce" file I found on
the media-lab machine.

							-- Rich

	    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    The Galatea Network Video Device Control System is a package for
    controlling and managing video resources in a distributed workstation
    environment.  The system handles the control of video devices, such as
    analog video disc player/recorders and analog video routing switches.
    Galatea runs on 4.3BSD and System V UNIX on 32 bit workstations.  A Mac
    II client library is in the works, so a UNIX server will be able to
    serve a cluster of Mac's.

    Galatea is available for the public under the same copyright
    restrictions as the X Window System.  Any person may copy and use
    Galatea for any purpose, as long as the M.I.T. copyright is maintained
    on all copies of the distributed software.  To obtain a copy of Galatea,
    anonymous ftp can be used to media-lab.mit.edu (Internet 18.85.0.2).
    The Galatea distribution, tar(1) format, as well as PostScript and line
    printer copies of the documentation are available in the subdirectory
    'galatea' The documentation is present in the distribution, so there is
    no need to grab both.  If you cannot form an ftp(1) connection to
    media-lab.mit.edu, I would be happy to send mail containing uuencoded
    versions of either the documentation or the distribution.  If you don't
    specify whether you want the PostScript or lineprinter version of the
    documentation, I will send the lineprinter version.  I don't have the
    time or energy to send any of this information via US mail.  I can send
    the documentation non-uuencoded, if that is better.

    There is no official support for Galatea, although I try to keep things
    going and I respond to complaints about bugs.  If you wish to use the
    system, feel free, but the responsibility is in your hands.  I want to
    hear about real bugs in the system, and take efforts to correct them.
    As I will graduate in two months, the future of Galatea development is
    uncertain.  As the Media Laboratory is not a product development or
    support organization, Galatea is only being offered unofficially by me,
    not by the lab.

    Currently, Galatea supports Sony and Digital Equipment Corporation video
    disc players and the Panasonic write-once units, Akai Digital Patch
    Panels and many switches produced by Presentation Environments.  Work is
    being done at MIT Project Athena to add support for the Pioneer video
    disk player.  I welcome any device driver software that other users
    develop and would be more than happy it to add to the distribution.  The
    system runs on 4.3BSD, Ultrix, Interactive 386/ix, HP-UX and Sun OS.

    The client library is device independent, so the clients never need to
    be aware of the type of device under control.  In addition, the physical
    location of a device is hidden from a client, so in a distributed
    environment, a video disc player may be anywhere.  Galatea servers can
    communicate to each other to share resources.  There need not be a
    single server, but a hierarchy can be created, allowing the use of
    "office-wide", "department-wide", and "building-wide" resources by the
    same user without the client software or the user being aware of the
    distinction.

    Some applications of Galatea have included the recording of computer
    generated animations onto write-once video discs (CALTECH CCSF), image
    archive retrieval (Image Concepts, MIT VLW), educational applications
    (MIT Project Athena) and off-line video editing prototypes (MIT
    Interactive Cinema).

    Mailing lists: To be added to the galatea-users or galatea-bugs list or
    to request documentation or distributions:
    galatea-request@media-lab.mit.edu

    To send mail to other users of Galatea: galatea-users@media-lab.mit.edu

    To report a Galatea bug: galatea-bugs@media-lab.mit.edu

    Daniel I. Applebaum
    Interactive Cinema
    M.I.T. Media Laboratory
    danapple@athena.mit.edu  danapple@media-lab.mit.edu

	    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-- 
  ``Read my MIPS -- no new VAXes!!'' -- George Bush after sniffing freon
	    Disclaimer: I speak for myself, except as noted.
UUCP: ...!uunet!dsd.es.com!rthomson		Rich Thomson
ARPA: rthomson@dsd.es.com			PEXt Programmer
