Proposal: Shared network-enabled virtual desktop for KDE 4.0

[Andrew Kar]

On Thursday 11 August 2005 02:00, Janne Ojaniemi wrote:
> PROPOSAL
>
> KDE 4.0 should have network-enabled shared virtual desktop that could be
> shared with other users on the network. The proposal is tentatively called
> “Foresight”.

KDE already has desktop sharing that allows any number of people to observe or 
control a users desktop. As it currently uses VNC it would benefit from using 
the NX transport.
  So lets get to the main differences in your proposal compared to the head of 
a group of people saying "lets all run a sharing client fullscreen in 
Desktop4 and I'll share out my computer"

1) One virtual screen in KDE becomes permanently? a collaborative work area.
2) We want peer-to-peer (workgroup) functionality rather than host-clients 
which is how all current desktop sharing is implemented so that different 
users can send or drag an app running on their machine onto the common 
desktop.
3) Common cllaboration and messaging tools by default on the common desktop. 
(whiteboard messaging and auto document/ file drop-chute (deposits stuff into 
all recipients in-box type folder) etc)

The idea certainly has merit even if the name (foresight-Uugh) sucks.
The main problem is that the transport NX like VNC is not suitable for 
peer-collaboration. They are both intrinsically host-client models. What they 
do is basically send the changing graphics of the screen down to the clients 
and work in a one way only direction. When a client takes control and changes 
something he is not actually doing it on his computer but rather his mouse 
and keystrokes are being sent to the host which is making the changes to ITS 
screen and then sending the updated screen back to him.
As you can see that process in a peer to peer environment would be pure chaos.

Still an icon that sets up scrren4 automatically with tools and requests the 
connection of a list of team members  and automates everything is not a bad 
idea and can be done now with just a script and dcop calls or a small 
Kommander script.

Closer to the original concept where team members can drag apps to a common 
screen cannot be done with VNC or NX (although the host only of course can 
drag apps to the common screen) but it could be done probably even faster and  
more efficiently simply by utilising the Xserver if we are only taling about 
linux/KDE machines. Remember that X allows for a program to run on machine A 
with its display on machine B and its keyboard coming from machine C.  I can 
see a patch where any app dragged or sent to the common virtual screen is 
hooked and its output sent to all hosts in the workgroup list. The same would 
happen on each team members computer. Each persons machine runs its own apps 
but displays on all workgroup hosts common virtual screen.

Just some thoughts anyhow....

andrew

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