[Gllug] On Linux desktops...

[robin.c.smith at bt.com]

This sounds sounds similar to a windows PIF file. How about being able to
pipe the output of one gui block to another i.e. link blocks together by
arrows?

I currently have a script called photocopy which does something like:-

scanimage | crop it with netpbm | convert to Laserjet with netpbm | lpr

Can you imagine how clever GUI users would feel if they could create a
photocopy application on the fly just by clicking a mouse on a set of
standard GUI components? I've been meaning to write this GUI application for
many years but I have never had the time yet :-(

Robin

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Brazier [mailto:pbrazier at cosmos-uk.co.uk]
Sent: 17 October 2001 15:58
To: gllug
Subject: RE: [Gllug] On Linux desktops...


> I'm toying with ideas for how to leverage 
> old/command-line/other UNIX style
> tools into a 'good' UI (with no smaller task than providing a 
> common UI for
> Linux - the stumbling block for Linux at the desktop IMHO) 
> and one of the
> things I can't get my head around is how to make a solid UI which does
> innovate beyond pretty windows. It's just not one of the 
> things that I'm
> good at.

What would be nice is a single utility that can act as or generate a GUI
for *any* commandline program.
At its most basic it could just provide a list of options with
appropriate drop-down selection boxes or what ever is appropriate. Plus
perhaps provide help snippets for each option.

Really I guess it needs co-operation from the command-line programs to
provide information on which options can be grouped together etc. Then
you could drop the GUI of your choice (web, X, Gtk etc) on top of the
command-line program and have an instant point and click interface for
new users. But they would all use the same underlying functionality.

Kind of like encapsulating business logic in a separate layer between
your data and your reports.
Or like using SGML to generate documentation in html, pdf, man or
whatever formats.

Maybe this idea is fundamentally flawed or nice but impractical.

Surely the purpose of a GUI *is* just pretty windows, which indirectly
make it easy for newcomers to get started with an application. Though I
suppose there are exceptions like the Gimp for example :).


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