New Products

In this column we will publish press releases and announcements about new products that we feel will be of interest to our readers. If you have a product that you feel might be of interest, send your press releases to the editorial offices of Linux Journal or e-mail to ljeditor@linuxjournal.com.

Sequoia International, Inc., has released a complete OSF/Motif 1.2.3 runtime and development environment for Linux, Coherent, FreeBSD, NetBSD and BSD/386. The entire package includes: Shared and static libraries (operating system dependent), header and include files, complete on-line manual pages, sample source code to demo programs and the OSF/Motif Users Guide.Only $149.95. For more information: (305) 480-6118 or info@seq.com.

Expect to see a review of Sequoia's product in a future issue of Linux Journal -Editor

MetaCard Corporation has developed a whole new approach to developing GUI applications and hypermedia documents on Unix/X11 workstations. Rather than expensive and complex applications development environments which require extensive programming with a third generation language, MetaCard offers the ability to create and modify applications using interactive tools and a simple scripting language.

MetaCard can also be used to prepare on-line help and training packages. The multiple-card metaphor and hypertext-linking capability makes it a natural for producing on-line reference manuals. As an example, the complete documentation for the MetaCard environment itself is available on-line in MetaCard stacks.

MetaCard 1.3 is available on 14 different platforms including Linux. Single user licenses (for any platform) are $495 and come with unlimited e-mail technical support. To receive a free save-disabled but licensable copy of MetaCard, e-mail to info@metacard.com or call (303) 447-3936. You can also download the current engines, documentation and an unlicensed Home stack from ftp.metacard.com, directory MetaCard or from ftp.uu.net, directory vendor/MetaCard on the Internet.

by Stefan Strobel and Thomas Uhl

Linux, a relatively new free Unix system for PCs, has emerged as a viable alternative to commercial Unix systems. It turns a 386/486-PC into a Unix workstation with performance characteristics comparable to a RISC workstation. The book by Thomas Uhl and Stefan Strobel introduces the concepts and features of Linux. Moreover, it describes the features and services of the Internet which have been instrumental in the rapid development and wide distribution of Linux. Finally, the book gives an overview of the wide range of applications that are available for Linux.

With Linux, a system has become available to the computing community that stands in the tradition and spirit of Unix (from the forward by J. Gulbins).

ISBN 3-540-57383-6 Springer Heidelberg

Note that this book is written in German. Anyone want to review it for Linux Journal? -Editor

Linux Installation and Getting Started, by Matt Welsh, Version 2.0, 14th January 1994, is available on paper from the following sources:

For European distribution:

ISBN 3-926671-12-2, 188 pages, DIN A5 (148 x 210 mm) Costs DM 13.80 plus DM 2.70 for postage (includes VAT) and can be mail-ordered from Extent Verlag, Postfach 12 66 48, D-10594 Berlin, GERMANY.

Payment is in advance by check. E-mail andreasb@cs.tu-berlin.de for more information.

For U.S. distribution:

ISBN 0-916151-69-7, 188 pages, letter size (8.5" x 11") Costs $15.00 plus $3.00 shipping. It can be ordered by mail, phone or FAX from SSC, P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155. Phone (206) 782-7733 or FAX (206) 782-7191. Payment by check, Visa, MasterCard or American Express. E-mail sales@ssc.com for more information.

Fintronic USA, Inc., is pleased to announce the availability of FinSim for the Linux platform.

FinSim: A high performance, compiled and interpreted simulation environment that supports both UDL/I and Verilog HDL. The FinSim UDL/I simulator features full language implementation. The FinSim Verilog simulator features full Verilog HDL implementation including gate, switch-level, user defined primitives, behavior, specify blocks, path delays, system tasks and functions, PLI, and VCD. SDF capabilities will be released March 1, 1994.

FinSim is part of Intergraph's recently announced Veribest Design System. The FinSim simulator is tightly integrated with Data I/O's ECS schematic capture system, allowing fast schematic simulation and back annotation of simulation results. The FinSim Verilog simulator is compatible with all VCD-based waveform displays including Veritools' Undertow IV, Design Acceleration's Signalscan and Systems Science's Magellan.

With the FinSim Verilog simulator, behavior level designs currently run up to 50 times faster than Verilog-XL v1.6. FinSim's performance at gate and switch level is fast and runs existing benchmarks.

Currently FinSim runs on Sun Sparc, Digital MIPS, IBM RS/6000 and SGI MIPS workstations. It is also available on Intel x86 platforms running Windows NT, SVR4.2, interactive Unix 3.2 or Linux. It will soon be available on Digital Alpha, Pentium and Hewlett-Packard platforms.

FinSim prices for a Unix workstation range from $15,000 to $25,000, including free upgrades to SDF. FinSim's list price for a PC platform is two thirds of the price of FinSim for a Unix workstation.

Fintronic USA, Inc., 1360 Willow Rd., Suite 205, Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Phone +1.415.325.4474, fax +1.415.325.4908 or e-mail info@fintronic.com for more information.