On 2/26/2013 6:54 PM, Davoud wrote:
Davoud:
[XEphem] requires an
X-Windows environment such as Apple's X-11, which is standard with
OS 10.7 and below. Beginning with 10.8 one must download and install

Paul Schlyter:
So Xephem runs natively on older versions of Mac-OS, butik the
current Mac-OS needs some extras to run Xephem....

Not exactly. All UNIX versions that I know of require an X-Windows
environment to run GUI software such as XEphem. The Mac OS never came
with such software installed. It used to be on one of the install
disks, and it was an optional install. Now it's on the Internet and is
an optional install. A distinction, one might argue, but one without a
difference: prior to OS 10.8 one needed an X-Windows utility to run
XEphem in the Mac's BSD UNIX environment. Beginning with OS 10.8 one
needs an X-Windows utility to run XEphem in the Mac's BSD UNIX
environment.

Further, it has nothing to do with running "natively." XEphem never ran
on BSD UNIX or any other UNIX without an X-Windows environment installed.

Plus Motif header(s) and library(ies). This goes back to the days of
the UNIX wars (50+ different UNIX "flavors" similar to the 350+ Linux
distros today). The author once explained his rationale for Motif in
the Yahoo XEphem support group:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/xephem/

A quick search found this from January 2003:

" IMHO motif and X was an excellent choice for this program and a
" key to why it works on so many variations of X11 and platforms.

FWIW, the necessary components from Motif are in the XEphem tar file
for portability. It took me all of 5 minutes to unpack and compile
XEphem under Cygwin on Windows Vista and it works fine there, too.

Thad