[Pipet Devel] Quest for Understanding.

[Josh Prismon]

I just read the gnome announcement. I am still confused by a couple of
things,
so let me make some hypotheticals.

I agree w/ the fundamental tenet that the OS world must respond to .NET, or
find itself obsoleted by it.

The current plan is very back end centric (because of the problem it is
designed to solve).

I just spent a while looking at the documentation for the project. Here are
my comments:

1) The idea of distributed componets and routing are all very well and good
(and needed) but it still does not address one of the biggest problems with
the OS world. Inconsistant Metaphor. The user interface is not very well
defined at all (Bluebox?)

2) If one is going to write a user interface that runs off of this, why
re-invent the wheel w/ bluebox? Mozilla's XUL is designed for problems like
this, and Mozilla can easily be extended because of the quality of it's
object model and plug in structures. Plus it would also give us something
that I really did not see harped on. COMPATABILITY WITH WINDOWS. Ignore 90%
of the Computer market at your own peril.

3) Backend is all well and good. Can we hook up a Object Database (Zope's
Zobj for example?). I would really like a way to connect to a server and
ask:

Give me all transactions that are over $500. Plus we could add objects with
publicly defined methods and properties to the database ala zope. This would
be amazingly powerfull, and would enable something like what I want to do
below.

Wouldn't it be neat if we could do the following:

1) A user needs a new PC on his desk. He opens up some sort of a browser.
Clicks on "World" Then Comapny, then HR, then requests. There is a little
application there to purchase a new machine.

That purchese order connects to a server on his machine or a bigger server
which has a proccess that says "put a request for a new machine in his
bosses inbox".

The boss opens up the same browser, and hits his inbox. There is a little
application there called "Request for a new PC by XXXXX". He clicks Aprove
on that. His machine has a proccess called "approve" which then takes that
information and sends it to a Purchasing server on the other side of the
world.

The Purchising server automagically purchases the server, debits the amount
out of the departments budget, and sends confirmation letters....

If we can do that... we can rule the world.

If this is possible, count me in on this project. I would love to focus on
client interface and windows compatibility.