Hi Lailah,
Yes, it would be like an OS for gamers - but I can imagine in time that the
normal person would even find it more intuitive and productive. Big and
fast powerful computers will make it look gorgeous but you can have it look
less gorgeous to run on less powerful computers. Forgive my ignorance,
what is an SO? My idea of how to make this happen would be to make a 3D
background in Fedora that people could elect to use as their background.
Then enhance that background so that you can move the clouds around with
the mouse (add mouse events). Then make it so you can zoom in and out with
key events. Then build the first tool - the ability to make a wall. Then
build the second. And the OS would be built one tool at a time. That way
you can use the agile methodology to deliver early and deliver often and
there is no large learning curve of being forced to learn a new OS and if
you like the way your old OS works, you could just not elect to use the 3D
background.
...And since this really is a ton of work and I'd be doing it on my spare
time, if Fedora ever sees great value in it and likes what I produce, maybe
they'd hire me at some point... :)
Anyway, I'm on the infrastructure team too. I've been in contact with
Martin Sourada who suggested I join the design team. I guess what I would
like to do is make sure Fedora likes the idea and the approach and if they
have any suggestions before I begin building it. I imagine that the design
team could add a great bit of experience and value into the finished
product. A team always builds a better product than an individual.
Thanks,
Matthew Whittle
On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 10:30 AM, Lailah <lailahfsf(a)gmail.com> wrote:
**
Hello Matt!
I found interesting your project. Is like an Operative
System for Gamers, isn't it?
I think it will need big and fast, powerful, computers to use it. But
anyway, it will be funny to use it. Just curious... in which SO you will
base it? Or you will make it from scratch?
I would like to know. [image: :-)]
*Regards,*
*Lailah*
El vie, 12-10-2012 a las 11:15 -0600, Matt Whittle escribió:
Hi Lailah!
Thanks for greeting me
Here is the grand scheme of things...
What do you mean "3D operating system"?
Imagine playing Quake. You move from room to room in a 3D
environment. The rooms are gorgeous and have a large bay window with an
ocean view. In one room you check your email. In another you write a
document. In another you create some graphics. You move from room to room
instead of moving windows around.
Would there be menus?
There would be no menu bars. If you want to do something, you would
use a tool to do it. Just like in video games you have a set of tools that
help you get through the game, in this 3D operating system you have a set
of tools that help you do your work.
How would you copy and paste?
Just like in games where you pick things up, there would be a hand
tool you would use to copy things by grabbing them with your hand. Then
you would see what is copied in the hand at the bottom of the screen.
Wherever you put it, there it "pastes".
So how would I copy and paste things between my email and a text document
if they are in different rooms?
When reading your email, you would copy whatever section you want to
put into the text document and walk over to the text document and plop it
down.
What if I want to drag and drop?
There would be a tool for that too. The tool would be the "drag and
drop" tool. It would have a left side and a right side. When it is on
left, you click where you want to drag from or to, and then on the right
you click the other. When you are ready it would present the left and
right to you and you can perform your drag and drop from one side to the
other.
What if I want to copy multiple items?
There would be a tool for that too. It would be the bag tool. If you
"copy" something by picking it up into your hand, you can place it into a
bag. It at that point would be persisted to the hard drive. Then you can
pull it out of the bag and put it wherever you'd like.
It sounds like there will be way too many tools. How will you make it
easy for the user?
You would initially start without any tools. You would have a home
and near it there would be a marketplace. In the marketplace you can "buy"
whatever tools you thing you'd use. "Buy" is in quotes because all the
tools are free - all the ones that come with the operating system. Also,
you can build your house any way you'd like. So if you never use a certain
application, you need not create a room that has it in there. Thus you can
customize your house to be whatever way you want and your set of tools as
well.
Customization causes issues when the user of one system becomes familiar
with the way they are doing things and tries to use another system which is
completely different. How will you mitigate this issue?
Your house and toolset preferences can be stored into a file. That
file can be put on a flash disk or on the web so that when you are on
another computer, you can download that file. When you open it on another
computer, it creates your home as a neighbor. When you enter that home,
your toolbox and house settings will all match what you are used to on your
own computer.
What happens if you have paid for an application on your home computer and
it isn't available on a friend's computer?
That room has the door locked and a message indicating why.
Would there be folders?
There would be no folders. Each file would have an x,y,z coordinate.
Instead of organizing things into folders, they would be organized by
tags. Any file can have as many tags as it needs. Each tag would work
like a column in a database. You can make up whatever tags you like.
There then would also be no need for aliases or shortcuts.
How do you get two files with the same name?
Files can have the same name because there would be no unique
constraint on the name anywhere.
How would you replace a file?
There would be a tool for that.
How would you delete a file?
There would be a tool for that too.
How would you ftp a file?
Ah! Well, there would be a tool for that!
But how would you put your file into the FTP?
Pick it up with the hand tool, like a copy, and put it into FTP.
What about web browsing? Could you download firefox or google chrome?
2D applications would still work on the os. They would go on one wall
in a room. Their menus would show up like menus and still work just like
the 2D application you are used to. Each new window, however, would show
up on a different wall in the room.
What happens if you run out of walls in your room?
You have too many windows open. If you really do need more windows,
you build a larger room that has more space for more windows.
But how will the 2D application install if the OS is so different?
There's the beauty - the OS isn't so different. Everything Red Hat
has is still there. You can even open up a terminal on a wall and access
everything just like you can now.
How do 3D applications work differently than 2D?
Because they are using openGL and mipmaps, zooming into and out of the
application comes native with the os. Zooming in 2D applications will
cause the pixilization common to 2D applications.
Wait - you said there would be no unique constraint on files and Red Hat
has a unique constraint per folder. How will you get around that?
The files in the 3D Operating System have a unique constraint on their
x,y,z coordinate. Therefore, the x,y,z coordinate will be the folder name
for which the file is placed. All files for the 3D Operating System will
live in one folder aptly named 3D Operating System
How would you put the computer to sleep?
There would be a room for that - with a bed.
What happens during a power failure?
All the 2D applications would behave just like they do today. All the
3D applications, including the 3DOS, would remember their state.
How would a flash disk work?
When a flash disk inserts, it would get added as a neighboring house.
How would you copy file between flash disks?
There would be a copy tool which would make a copy of a file. When
you walk it from one house to another, it would automatically delete it
from the one hard drive and place it on the other.
How do you save a file?
There would be a new file save dialog box which lets you name the
file, tag the file, and drops it in the x,y,z space you are current at.
What other tools are there?
There will be a teleport tool that will teleport you to whatever place
you want it to.
There will be home building tools that will you
There will be a document finder that will help you locate your
documents
There will be document opener to open a document and transport you to
the appropriate room
Wouldn't this be so new that people would have a hard time adjusting from
other operating systems?
Most people that play video games are already familiar with this type
of operating system. They find it enjoyable.
So, the 3D background would just be a way to start small. I was thinking
have an ocean and a sky and have it animated. It would stop animation if
the CPU went too high or the computer went to sleep or if some other app
wanted 3D full screen access. The background picture would have to be
replaced with a GLCanvas. This of course would only be if they went to the
desktop background control panel option and chose 3D background.
This was probably way too much information but better more than less?
Thanks!
Matt
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