J. Paul Reed (preed@sigkill.com)
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 19:09:45 -0800 (PST)
On Thu, 11 Mar 1999, Evan Read wrote:
> >> That is more or less NGLayout, isn't it? Rather than the Netscape branded
> >> "Gecko", correct? I am talking about the Netscape branded stuff.
> >
> > Well, yes and no (marketing people screw it up again.)
> >
> > Gecko is what NSCP calls NGLayout and XPFE. Gecko is also the codename for
> > Communicator 5.0. So, when you download Gecko, you're essentially
> > downloading NGLayout, for which there are nightly builds on Win32 and
> > Linux.
>
> Yeah, but they look alot different and haven't been branded, therefore
> are different ;)
NGLayout and Mozilla 5.0 will never be branded; it's the difference
between me getting the Linux kernel, and me getting RedHat. And a version
for LinuxPPC of Gecko (or Communicator 5.0, for that matter) may never
come out "branded" from Netscape.
What NCSP calls Gecko includes some of the makings of a web browser;
that's why it "looks" different. In reality, it's NGLayout with some
wrappers around it so it looks like Mozilla Classic. Gecko was released to
satisfy the need of Netscape to make it look like they were working on
something (and to show off new technology; remember, IE 5.0 will probably
be out before Mozilla 5.0), and so it really bears no resemblance to what
Communicator 5.0 and what Mozilla 5.0 will be; it's just to whet our
tongues, and considering that the vast majority of people use Windows
(unfortunately) and when Gecko came out, the Unix development stuff was in
flux, I'm not surprised they didn't release a Unix/Linux version.
But, really, the only difference is the nightly builds are further along
than Gecko, because the the version of NGLayout is newer. Other than that,
they aren't.
> When I said get Gecko on the CD, I was figuring that people would like
> to see a nice Netscape-branded browser (since that is what people
> know). Anyone that knows even about Mozilla ain't is already going to
> have a copy of NGLayout ;).
Well, since Gecko isn't gonna be released for *nix AFAIK, and the
"Netscape branded" browser isn't gonna be done until summer, we'll just
have to wait. ;-)
> I know this is probably far too simple, but couldn't Gecko be
> considered a "stable" (albeit pre-alpha) release where those nightly
> builds have all sorts of surprises?
Yes, nightly builds do have all sorts of surprises; that's quite true.
However, Gecko is not "stable," save the fact that it isn't "changing"
nightly. It has bugs, and in many cases will crash just the same.
You should think of Gecko as Communicator 5.0 Preview Release 1, which may
or may not bear any resemblance to Mozilla 5.0, or Communicator 5.0, for
that matter.
> > Get a Tinderbox column going for LinuxPPC...
>
> Yeah man.. that is cool!
Yes, yes it is.
Later,
Paul
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Paul Reed preed@sigkill.com || preed@area.com
Sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here.
--Melvin Udall, As Good as It Gets
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Wed Mar 31 1999 - 11:30:03 MST