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Fresco (computing)
Encyclopedia
In computing
, Fresco (formerly known as Berlin) was a windowing system
intended as a replacement for the X Window System
. It was free software
, licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
(LGPL).
As of October 23, 2008, the last activity in the project's CVS repository was dated June 11, 2004. The project website is no longer registered.
. In X, Xorg provides graphics and input drivers, drawing primitives (sometimes through extensions), and a network transparent way of using these. Fresco on the other hand aimed to provide the primitives and the network transparency, and in addition to provide the higher level widgets that a GUI toolkit in the X Window System
would provide.
rendering of everything including the widgets had been implemented, and leveraging more advanced future hardware should have been possible without having to rewrite the client applications.
Everything in the scene-graph was a CORBA
Object, and able to be manipulated in a network transparent way. The higher level widgets were built out of lower level primitives in the same way a (remote) client app would. So everything was accessible through a consistent CORBA
API.
Fresco tried to be device-independent and resolution-independent
. Switching from the OpenGL renderer to the Postscript renderer for printing for instance, should yield identical results.
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
, Fresco (formerly known as Berlin) was a windowing system
Windowing system
A windowing system is a component of a graphical user interface , and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards...
intended as a replacement for the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
. It was free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
, licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
(LGPL).
As of October 23, 2008, the last activity in the project's CVS repository was dated June 11, 2004. The project website is no longer registered.
Scope
Fresco tried to use a different approach than most other user interface systems. Its scope was different from for instance the X Window SystemX Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
. In X, Xorg provides graphics and input drivers, drawing primitives (sometimes through extensions), and a network transparent way of using these. Fresco on the other hand aimed to provide the primitives and the network transparency, and in addition to provide the higher level widgets that a GUI toolkit in the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
would provide.
Core concepts
A major difference with more traditional systems would have been that higher level widgets existed in a server side scene-graph. This resulted in reduced communication overhead between the application and the display server when manipulating the widgets, because the information needed to re-render the entire scene was there. Keeping the scene on the server also allowed more opportunities to leverage hardware acceleration. OpenGLOpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
rendering of everything including the widgets had been implemented, and leveraging more advanced future hardware should have been possible without having to rewrite the client applications.
Everything in the scene-graph was a CORBA
Çorba
Chorba , ciorbă , shurpa , shorpo , or sorpa is one of various kinds of soup or stew found in national cuisines across Middle East...
Object, and able to be manipulated in a network transparent way. The higher level widgets were built out of lower level primitives in the same way a (remote) client app would. So everything was accessible through a consistent CORBA
Çorba
Chorba , ciorbă , shurpa , shorpo , or sorpa is one of various kinds of soup or stew found in national cuisines across Middle East...
API.
Fresco tried to be device-independent and resolution-independent
Resolution independence
In computing, resolution independence is the concept that elements on a computer screen can be drawn at sizes independent from the pixel grid. This is done so that those with larger screens and more compact screens can still view the UI at the same size....
. Switching from the OpenGL renderer to the Postscript renderer for printing for instance, should yield identical results.
External links
- Official website (no longer active: WaybackMachine archive)