Re: gmc/libvfs suggestion for removable media

[Gleef <dzol virtual-yellow com>]

On Tue, 23 Feb 1999, Daniel Burrows wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 23, 1999 at 06:56:39PM +0100, Matthias Warkus was heard to say:
> > 
> > ACK. You're completely right.
> > Anyway, who wants to use Unix should learn what buffered I/O is and
> > that stuff needs to be mounted and umounted.
> > 
> > mawa
> 
> What is the purpose of the Gnome project?  Am I misunderstanding something?

The purpose of the GNOME Project is to write an excellent desktop
environment for the X Window System based entirely on Free Software.  The
part I think you might be misunderstanding is the "for the X Window
System" part.

The X Window System is designed with a clear division of labor imlicit in
the system.  You have the system stuff, on top of that you run X11, on top
of that you run a window manager, and on top of that you run any
applications or special programs.  Each layer has their own job to do, and
is discouraged from stepping on the toes of the other layers.

GNOME falls in the category of "special programs", that is to say it
assumes that underneath GNOME you are running a window manager, an X
server, and a bunch of system stuff, and that all of them are doing their
jobs.  This is why GNOME doesn't handle window decorations (the window
manager's job), or the placing of graphics in video memory (the X Server's
job), or the mounting and unmounting of disks (the system's job).  That
isn't to say that GNOME can't help make these tasks easier, but it
shouldn't actually do them.

If GNOME were to be ported to a non X Window system, say MacOS X or BeOS,
the underlying system behavior would be determined by what is standard on
that system, rather than what is standard on a Unix-style system.

I hope I've cleared things up a bit for you (and maybe some lurkers :-).
-Gleef