Re: Summer of Code

[tonic <ghatanothoa gmail com>]

> This all looks like compositor stuff, 

Yes, well almost. I forgot to add details on how to determine the
relationships between the windows and applications.

> which is S�s area of
> expertise.  (I'm still stuck with nvidia cards, and furthermore my

I haven't yet heard anything from S� here's hoping :D

> machines aren't very stable at all with 3d graphics anyway).  Much of
> your ideas look similar to Apple's Expos�eature.

I've had a play with Expos�n a friends laptop. I seems to be as the
first step in experimenting with new ways to present windows and
applications. However I don't think it scales very well and it feels
very much like a quick hack. With Glasstop I was specifically trying to
think of ways to scale nicely with the number of windows and
applications that are open.

>   Compiz (an
> experimental window manager) has the feature as well, but I'm not sure
> if S�has added such a thing to metacity yet.  If not, porting it
> from compiz might be a good way to start.

I'll take a look into this.

>  (There is also expocity, a
> non-accelerated add-on to metacity to try to do this, that never
> really caught on)  I'm a little leery about removing panels and am not
> sure if removing workspaces would work, BUT it definitely can't hurt
> at all to experiment with different UI ideas, and some of your ideas
> look like they could be cool.

Basically I see this as an opportunity to experiment. The getting rid of
workspaces was because I saw them as being redundant in such a UI.
Getting rid of the panels is merely an idea to which future development
could take place. Obviously with something like this only practical
experimentation would prove the ideas.

> 
> Anyway, I've kept myself out of the pool of mentors because I'm
> considering participating as a student (I just need to figure out
> which task(s) to include in a proposal).  I wouldn't really be the
> right person to mentor this particular task anyway, though.

I've spent some time looking through the ideas suggested. Some of them
look quite fun to do. I did happen to see a number of ideas with you as
a willing mentor e.g. Make a library for single-instance apps (Elijah
Newren). Maybe this needs updating :D

> 
> I hope something I said helps.  Sorry I don't have any more useful
> information than that.

It is good to have talked and feedback is always great. Meanwhile, I'd
better submit this proposal.

best of luck :)

tonic - Russell Lomax