XGas
Compilation Instructions
The code can be found here: https://codeberg.org/x11cp/x11cp.git
git clone https://codeberg.org/x11cp/x11cp.git && cd x11cp/src/xgas
Direct compilation
To compile this application, the following command should be used:
xmkmf -a && make
Toplevel Makefile
There is also a wrapper command in the top-level `Makefile` of the repository where this is can be run as:
make xgas
About
Written in 1991 by Larry Medwin (at the MIT), xgas was a program originally
distributed with X11, which allowed one to animate and simulate an idea gas,
and how those molecules moved.
It was a really good demonstration of how mathematical models could represent a visual graphic, at a time when there was no (by today’s standards) trivial alternative.
xgas(1) is still available on the *BSDs, but has seemingly long since left the Linux repos for most distros.
A shame, really.
This was a great era for application development before “running everything in a web browser” ruined the whole experience.
This was a program using libXt (X intrinsic library) – one up from pure XLib.
Screenshots
