Unix Squeakers,

The 1.3 version of Unix Squeak is now available at:

    ftp://alix.inria.fr/pub/squeak/unix/Squeak-1.3

It includes precompiled binaries for the following platforms:

    Intel/Linux
    Sparc/SunOS
    Sparc/Solaris
    Alpha/Digital Unix

There are numerous improvements to the Unix support code, approximately
as follows.

    support for X Shared Memory extensions rolled into the main sources
	+ command-line option "-xshm"
	+ env var "SQUEAK_XSHM"

    accompanied by support for asynchronous screen updates
	+ command-line option "-xasync"
	+ env var "SQUEAK_XASYNC"
    (effective only when xshm is enabled)

    support for asking the WM not to decorate window
	+ command-line option "-notitle"
	+ env var "SQUEAK_NOTITLE"
    which works by marking the Squeak window as a "transient for" the
    root window.  I know, it's ugly.  But it works

    fixed a race condition that sometimes caused Squeak and X to
    disagree about the size of the Squeak window at startup.  Changed
    the default screen offset to 0 at 0 to cure a problem with initial
    sizing when user-placement is disabled

    enabled use of backing store to avoid repainting areas of the Pixmap
    on exposure, at the expense of server memory (this should be an
    option, but I'm too lazy [and I've got sooo much memory that I don't
    care ;)] -- it's easy to identify and disable the relevant lines in
    sqXWindow.c if you dislike it intensely)

    changed class/resource name to "Squeak" (no '!' at the end).  WM
    configs (e.g. mine specifies NoTitle and NoBorder for "Squeak") may
    need to be updated as a result

    fixed timezone handling on (hopefully) all platforms, and for all
    locations (whether east or west of Greenwich meridian) -- many
    thanks to Richie Bielak for finally getting to the bottom of this!
    
    init code now switches off unaligned access reporting for DEC Alpha,
    so there's no more need to issue "uac p 0" from the shell before
    starting Squeak

    Unix and MacOS now share common versions of all header files (sq.h,
    sqConfig.h, and sqMachDep.h)

    "gnuify" script simplified to remove stuff that is irrelevant with
    the new Jitter (the original script is still there as "gnuify.trad",
    and the correct one will be chosen automatically if you're using GNU
    make)

    GNUmakefiles totally reworked, with a new top-level GNUmakefile that
    supports per-platform build directories.  there are certainly
    problems that I've not yet spotted, but please bear with me: the new
    GNUmakefiles are a huge improvement over the old ones (especially
    for frequent rebuilds of VMs for multiple platforms ;o)

Please let me know of any problems ASAP.  I have unfortunately not had
chance to test these binaries (1Mb of X bitmap takes a tad too long
over a 22.6kbps modem link), but I have every reason to expect them to
work.  (I built VMs from essentially the same sources on Friday, and
experienced no problems whatsoever.)

Enjoy!

Ian