Hi
I always
dream of the revival of the XWorkplace monster. I remember that on the past there was a complain that "you cannot put everything on XWorkplace, it will turn it into an un-manageable project". XWorkplace contains several WPS Classes (SOM components) and several PM applications combined into a single package. That is good for the user, since it gets a lot in a single package, but it is a pain for developers that has to merge all the different components on a single package.
I really hope that XWorkplace revive, but not as it is right now, as a software that get bugfixed eventually, but as a software that gets new features and functionality. I am starting to think that XWorkplace should not only be a software, but the desktop experience that the OS/2-ECS-BlueLion user should have. Maybe it can be said that my idea is stop looking to XWorkplace as a single project but as a combination of software that creates the "XWorkplace Experience".
XWorkplace Experience Friend ApplicationsSince talking is cheap, I was wondering what would I like to combine to the "XWorkplace Experience":
- LSwitcher - GNU GPL - The Alt+Tab switcher that is currently and stand alone app, maybe some other like the bar, but I like the Alt+Tab switcher
- Animated Mouse Pointer - Apache - I think that the WPMouse class needs some love and try to give it more life, and also needs improvements to support newer pointer animation standards.
- Bubblepad - BSD – I personally think
that "Launchpad" was the ancestry of the "Mac OS Dock". BubblePad is a good candidate to improve the launchpad.
- CandyFolders - GNU GPL - We never saw this project to evolve. It offered "transparent" windows, which was a nice thing for people that like to tune their WPS.
- Doodle Screen Saver - GNU GPL - It is our default screensaver and should be integrated to the "XWorkplace Experience".
- HotCorners - BSD 3 Clauses – To manage special actions when the mouse goes to the corners.
Notice that all this projects are compatible with the GNU GPL license that XWorkplace has. And, by the way, I did some quick mapping of XWorkplace related apps on the
A change of Focus on XWorkplace WPS - Become the Open replacement of Workplace ShellFor what I know about WPS Classes (which are SOM Classes) they are cool because they can allow you to expand a functionality of a WPS Class without having its source code, this is why XWorkplace can improve the WPS functionality without IBM’s releasing the source code.
However, the issue remains, we do not have the source code of WPS and that is a risk. Right now, we have XWorkplace classes that are child from IBM’s Close Source WPS classes, so it still depends on close source. XWorkplace should also try to address that risk by slowly trying to take over the IBM’s WPS Classes and be a complete open source replace of them.
XWorkplace as BrandIf we stop seeing XWorkplace as a software and start looking it as an “experience”, we should think about turning into a brand, not a commercial brand, but as a name to organize the XWorkplace related components like:
- XWorkplace Core (for the WPS classes)
- XWorkplace Animouse (for Animated Mouse Pointer)
- XWorkplace ScreenSaver
- XWorkplace Hotcorners… etc
After that, it will not be a single big crazy project with a lot of code that is hard to manage, but maybe a group of components that are compiled and versioned separated, but belongs to a same “Experience”.
So, feedback?I know that there are trolls that do not let you dream, or complain that “everything is impossible” without even evaluating any idea, or just replying sarcastic things. However, let’s put that aside and share what do you think it will be great to add/combine to the “XWorkplace Experience.”
- Do you have any app that you like on the WPS desktop?
- Do you have any screenshot of your Desktop that you want to share?
- Do you saw a good idea on other OSes desktops?
…just dream away.