Tektronix entered the X11 terminal business - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2025, 08:23:00 pm
content: Tektronix is famous for their great oscilloscopes, there was a time, when they were also famous for some important "non-test equipment"(1).In particularTekXPress X terminals, later sold to Network Computing DevicesDoes anyone remember why and when Tektronix entered the X11 terminal business?Any real-life experience with those X terminals?Let me know(1)Wikipedia

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 08, 2025, 09:52:39 pm
content: Tek was adventurous in many ways, e.g. their Smalltalk machines were very good for the time.https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/4404As for terminals, start herehttps://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/Main_Page#tab=Computers_and_Terminals

author: Zucca
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 02:44:50 am
content: eBay auction: #315644470503

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 06:47:33 am
content: Quote from: Zucca on September 09, 2025, 02:44:50 amlooooolWell, Crazy sellers on eBay, as usual ...... especially considering they don't provide any firmware (TekXpress v8?), and without it, the hardware is completely useless.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 06:59:12 am
content: (when turned on, these terminals obtain their IP address and other information via BOOTP, then load the software from the server using TFTP.So, these terminals require software located on a server in order to be useful.)

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 01:16:39 pm
content: I might have had one of those Tektronix X11 terminals at some point. Or perhaps a more modern version with RJ45 LAN. But IIRC it was flaky (random crashes) so I got rid of it. Dunno how I got it and dunno where it went.

author: paulca
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 01:25:37 pm
content: ... but have you seen the recent scandals surrounding X11/Xorg and Wayland?Turns out it's getting a bit spicy with lots of the larger companies contributing heavily to Wayland and even banning people and deleting commits for trying to keep X11 support alive. This is terribly taboo in FOSS. Of course everyone started blurring things with "neo-identity politics" and social fascism just to realy spice it up.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 02:30:33 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 09, 2025, 01:16:39 pmdon't you remember the model, and which software they used[]={ Xpress, NCD-bridge, ...} ?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 07:06:01 pm
content: If I look around, the inside of the XP200 series looks familiar. But it could be 20 years since I have played with it. Edit: according to my email archive I had an XP358 back in 2003. In those days I also had a Tektronix 4023 text based terminal. Beatifully build piece of equipment. Completely made from discrete logic chips. Despite that, it had a nice bell sound; not some annoying beep. I think I still have a circuit board that came with it somewhere just as a keepsake.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 07:34:06 pm
content: Quote from: paulca on September 09, 2025, 01:25:37 pmThat's crazy.Especially considering that x11 to Wayland is like ipv4 to ipv6 ...

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 08:19:53 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 09, 2025, 07:06:01 pmI used an XP2** something during my Erasmus experience. It was the only way to use the internet at the time.(Smartphones and Wi-Fi simply didn't exist)I remember that the xterminal didn't have a built-in browser, only telnet, so I had to connect to a server from the xterm, then export the DISPLAY, and then launch Netscape. There was a script that did this automatically upon login.Websites were basically pure HTML-text with a few images, so it was quite fast with a *slow* 10Mbps Ethernet.I know that the XP2**-something ran a custom x11 client on Xworks, and I remember it being quite stable, at least running Netscape

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2025, 08:34:03 am
content: I'm not ruling out the X terminal unit I had, had a hardware issue causing the crashes. I got it for free according to my archives.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2025, 09:30:59 am
content: Quote from: paulca on September 09, 2025, 01:25:37 pmIt has become the Standard Operating Procedure ever since systemd did that to every other init system in Debian, with the help of social pressure (Code of Conduct noises), companies having assumed that approach as the then-developers have been "promoted" to administrative roles.Plain ol' enshittification: instead of having contributions compete on their merits, their proponents use social pressure and looming company backing to force their will on others.Funnily enough, very recently Louis Rossmann has made some videos about how he wishes people would push back on this. Most people don't even notice how they're being manipulated into fearing companies and their actions, and to capitulate to their apparent will. Socially adept people are very good at exploiting this to push their own views on others without looking like a bully.TL;DR: Nothing new, same old nontechnical and social arguments overriding technical considerations. Think of the children, you monster!

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2025, 04:28:34 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 10, 2025, 08:34:03 amThanks for this feedback!From what I know, that is, from what I've seen with my own eyes, they were very stable... unless a RAM module(1) broke, or, another common problem, the power connector... and I can assure you this is a major problem even with modern devices like the bloody Olimex Teres1 laptop.I am still developing its kernel, and it's a disaster ... they send me a heavily used unit and if the batteries are low (<5%), since the connector -1- is of poor quality and -2- has been inserted more than 500 times, when it doesn make good contact, suddenly the laptop might shut down, or the kernel might panic for strange reasons... when in reality, it's just that, suddenly, there's not enough power getting to it running.It makes my life difficult when I have to debug real problems ... I'd better replace that damn connector, or something.(1) the terminal requires SIM72 fastpage "50nsec"apparently it can also operate with "70nsec" units, which were a lot cheaper in the 90s and early 2000s, but ... they don't meet all the constraints, so if you use them .. the terminal might crash.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2025, 05:09:35 pm
content: Quote from: DiTBho on September 10, 2025, 04:28:34 pmOoo, I remember 72-pin fast page SIMs from the late nineties! Used to have a bunch of those in some box (so probably killed by ESD by now)Power connector and related issues (and processor clock not adjusting properly anymore) was why I had to replace my previous laptop a few months ago too.It's bloody annoying to replace, being big and heavy and well-soldered and needing so much heat that the nearby components will desolder first.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2025, 12:31:21 pm
content: anyone with the xp400, or the - next generation - ncd900?I'd like to hear about these new devices? (10/100Mbps, true-color, faster CPU, more RAM)