gde.Z is the Sun Sparc executable for GDE version 2.3. I got
it from Steven Smith in September 1994, and it appears to be
the last version released.  

This version works well under both SunOS and Solaris with the
following problems:

- Cut or paste with a block (region) of sequence crashes GDE
- the  file_chooser menu only works the first time it is used,
  and is blank thereafter
- GDE still messes up the screen colors when run alongside certain
  X11 applications eg. WordPerfect, Netscape

Other than those things, 2.3 is okay. One thing that 2.3 fixes, as I
recall, is the bug in 2.2 that prevented it from reading the word
'Circular' in a GenBank file. Since there is now way to change
the topology within GDE, that's a pretty serious bug.

As far as the future of GDE, Steven Smith, now at GCG, has this
to say:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
  We have incorporated GDE into the Wisconsin Package Interface (WPI).  The
actual name of the resulting product is not set yet, but in all likelyhood it
will be "GDE".  Along the way, it has been ported from XView to Motif, and
many new features have been added, especially for features table support.
There are now graphics modes which will support mapping, and presentation
schematics, and we are going through the entire GCG package adding color
and feature output to all appropriate programs. We have also been working
on fragment assembly with ABI trace access included.  At this point, we are
expecting a July 96 release.

  WPI has it's own menu configuration system (much more flexible than mine
was), but the GDEmenus file is still available.  In fact, if you have GDE
installed, it is pretty automatic.  I haven't converted over the "File
chooser" to motif yet, but because Motif has a built in one, it should be
simple.

  As for the freeware version, there is no restriction for its use in a 
non-profit research manner.  Anyone willing may modify it, and redistribute
it with those restrictions, and it would please me to think that people would
do so. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to continue working on the
free version any longer for obvious reasons.

  I hope this answered your questions. I am very excited about what we will
be releasing shortly.  I think that it is really what people want as far
as data representation, and tied to the GCG package this stuff is finally
complete. The two are a good fit.


Sincerely,
Steve
----------------------------------------------------

Brian Fristensky