Human Designed Systems Inc, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has added PPP or Point-to-Point Protocol to its Intel 80960-based ViewStation FX Series of X-terminals so that they can run over serial lines. The boxes are believed to be the first X Window terminals to incorporate the emerging protocol. Human Designed will also offer host-based Point-to-Point Protocol software for Sparcstations, IBM’s RS/6000s, Hewlett-Packard workstations and Santa Cruz Open Desktop-based iron. Point-to-Point Protocol is a compressed serial protocol that enables machines connected by serial lines to communicate as if they were connected by a network. Unlike XRemote, Point-to-Point Protocol is in the public domain and can be run with data compression modems. It does not require an X-server to run on the host. Human Designed has also come out with Compartmented Mode Workstation secure versions of the FX series of X-terminals – prices go from $1,700 to $5,600.
