k16

[Jos Poortvliet]

On Tuesday 28 December 2010 19:37:29 Chani wrote:
> well, this isn't going to be much good because I'm not able to believe
> anything good will ever happen at the moment, but since the deadline is
> coming I might as well send *something*.
> 
> 
> what's been important to me lately is context and sessions.
> we've already got plans that in 2011 we'd get context-awareness in apps.
> they'd start responding to the activity they're in. and rrix wants to add
> location context stuff. you already know about that, though.
> 
> what you may not have thought of is the opportunity that wayland presents:
> if we can get a new session protocol in - a spec that covers both the
> management and the individual apps' session storage - we can create a
> system where activities are *mobile*. Where you can just transfer your
> current activity to your n900 and walk out the door, taking your documents
> with you - even if you don't have the same applications on both devices
> (eg. koffice on your laptop, freoffice on your phone - they may be from
> the same project but they're not the same app :).
> 
> KDE could be truly mobile - not just in the sense of having mobile versions
> of our apps, but having the the user's actual data mobile across devices.
> We can transcend applications. ;) A device running KDE software becomes a
> context- sensitive, adaptive environment, helping the user without getting
> in their way, and sharing freely with their other devices (so long as
> those devices are standard-compilant.. *cough*meego*cough*)
> 
> imagine having some research open, and being able to bring it along and
> keep reading on the bus. or having looked up directions to a restaurant
> and theater, tossing those onto your phone so that you don't have to
> re-google if you need to check again. or maybe you're halfway through your
> favourite tv show when you get dragged out the door - but you can take
> your netbook and keep watching it instead of waiting until you get home.
> :)
> 
> how do we do this? we convince apps to store their session data in nepomuk,
> in a standard way, so that similar applications can share the data. The
> session *itself* becomes document-oriented instead of
> application-oriented. Even if one device has a pdf viewer with tabs and
> the other can only handle one pdf per process, the session can be
> transferred losslessly if it's saved in the right way. :)
> 
> the biggest problem, of course, is convincing apps to port to this. the
> nepomuk guys had thought about this before, it seems, but they don't think
> we can convince apps to switch. I think we *can*. :) and wayland  will
> help. if wayland takes off, if it gets popular and apps start porting to
> it, we can make this *part* of that transition. We don't need every single
> app in the universe to join in, just enough for the idea to gain traction
> - and if kde apps are first, they'll have an advantage. :)
> 
> wayland doesn't have any session spec at all yet. nobody's thought about
> it. not only that - gnome hates the XSMP session protocol and wants it to
> die. I can give them that, and give us something really fucking awesome.
> :)
> 
> I don't know how long this'll take; I haven't looked at the wayland
> timeline. I know it won't be quick, though. it's going to take a few years
> (hopefully not the whole five!). Obviously there'll be legacy xsmp support
> for a long time. One thing that'll help: we can begin KDE's transition to
> the new session storage before kwin-wayland is implemented, since XSMP
> doesn't specify anything about how apps store anything.
> 
> I'm also thinking that with it being document-centric, when the server side
> *is* implemented it could take more direct control of what gets started how
> - for instance, on a phone, where there's not enough resources to open a
> dozen documents all at once, it could display a list of resources and not
> restore them until they're clicked. Or open just a few.
> 
> During syncing, it could also skip Very Large files (you're not going to
> try editing a movie on your phone). Oh, and it could also be "abused" for
> app introspection (eg. the window manager knowing what tabs are open -
> although that particular feature may be in 4.7 anyways). There's lots of
> fun details here. :) Lots of opportunities for people to expand on it with
> their own ideas...
> 
> ...err, crap. this might be a bit long for one page, eh? :) can I write a
> cleaned-up version later when I'm in a better mood? :) I haven't even
> talked about context...

Not a full 5 year vision maybe but this is a very cool idea and we're already 
partially heading in that direction. me likes.
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