My apologies for screwed-up formatting in the original message. It looked fine on he compose-window, but on the list it looks bad. I will try to fix the formatting on this message
On Wednesday 10 August 2005 19:00, 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”.
> RATIONALE
> Network-awareness seems to be the order of the day these days. And while> KDE 3.x is network-enabled by default (different IO-slaves for example)> that is really just baby-steps when compared to things that KDE could and> should be able to do. With Foresight, KDE would take a huge step forward> when it comes to true collaborative working between individuals over the> network. And as networked KDE is, there’s currently no way to substitute> physical meetings and on-location brainstorming. Foresight would make those> possible, using nothing but the internet and KDE.
> DETAILS
> KDE (as do other desktops in Linux/UNIX) offers virtual desktops by> default. What if one (or more, if the users so wishes) of those desktops> were network-enabled and shared? Meaning, all the people who are sharing> that desktop would see the exact same thing. If one of the users launches> an app on that desktop, it would appear on everyone’s shared desktop. Every> user could use the apps on that desktop, and everyone could see the others> working on it. Each user could also have a mouse-cursor of their own. The> desktop would clearly state “Shared with: Linus Torvalds> (torvalds@xxxxxxxx), Bill Gates (billg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) and Janne Ojaniemi> (janne.ojaniemi@xxxxxx)” (for example). Or it could simply say: “Shared> with: The IT-department”, where “IT-department would be a group of people.> Foresight could tie in to Kaddressbook for providing the user with names of> groups and users.
> The shared desktop would look different from the other > desktops. This is done in order to differentiate it from the private> desktops, so users won’t use the shared desktop for personal work. Also,> moving a running app from a private desktop to shared desktop would pop up> a dialog-box warning the user that he’s about to share the application with> others.
> By default, the shared desktop could offer an area for “doodling” > and typing text. This way the people using the shared desktop could quickly> type text and/or make doodles demonstrating an idea they have. This way> there would be no need to launch a separate IM-client or send emails. A> small-scale variant of Foresight could be a shared plasmoid on the desktop.> That plasmoid would be shared with other users. Users could drop files on> to the plasmoid and it would appear on everyone’s desktop. They could write> texts in the plasmoids and it would appear on everyone’s desktop as well.> They could also share output of apps there (presentations etc.). While this> functionality could be replicated with IM, shared folders and the like,> this would allow central place to handle this, and it would make ad hoc> collaboration easier. This would allow users and developers to quickly> share something they have been working on.
> TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION: ROUGH DETAILS
> Sharing could be done through peer-to-peer networking using NX-compression.> This way there would be no disruption to others if one user loses> network-connectivity. Also, by using peer-to-peer, the bandwidth-strain on> one particular machine will be lessened. The actual networking could be> done through Zeroconf, where the user could simply pick and choose the> users with whom he would like to share the desktop with. Or the user could> pick people up from Kaddressbook. Shared desktops could also announce> themselves to the network using Zeroconf, and other could join them with a> click of a mouse, if the desktop is “open” for joining. “closed” shared> desktops would require authorization/password in order to join.> Authorization could either be handled by anyone sharing the desktop, by> voting, or by decision by the master user. Master user would be the user> who created the shared desktop. Should the Master User lose> network-connection while sharing a closed desktop, the approval procedure> would automatically default to popular vote. And since the networking> would be done through peer-to-peer, there would be no disruption in the> shared desktop evn if master users loses connection.
> INTENDED USES
> This system could be used in following environments:
> - Education & training. Students could share a desktop with the teacher,> and the teacher could actually show the users what he’s talking about on> the screen (code for example). Also, training users to use some app (or KDE> itself) would be easier when the instructor could actually show to the> users how to do something.
> - Distributed projects & teamwork: All members > of a distributed team could see the same desktop. Working would be smooth> when each team-member could actually see in real-time what the other person> is doing. It would enable the “why not change this thing> here?”-communication with instant feedback. Also, one person could write> code, while others read what he’s writing. One person could create artwork,> while others provide instant feedback as he’s creating the artwork. Instead> of waiting for the user to finish working and mail/upload his work, others> could see it as it is being created.
> WHY NOT?
> What problems could there be in creating this technology? The technology> might not be there yet. NX might not work with peer-to-peer. Hopefully> people with needed technological expertise will provide feedback on> possible issues.
> SUMMARY
> This proposal, if implemented, could turn KDE in to de facto standard when> it comes to distributed teamworking at this level. Not only would this be> an immense help to open-source developers (who are often physically> separated and work over the internet), it would really help companies with> offices and teams around the world. And my proposal presents a paradigm> that simply does not exist in competing products, open or proprietary. With> Foresight, KDE would take “network-awareness” to a whole new level. This> could become a “must have” feature in the future.
> GLOSSARY
> Closed Desktop: Shared desktop that requires authorization from the Master> User or from the other users of the desktop for new users to join the> desktop. Foresight: Set of technologies that enables user to share a> desktop and associated applications with other users in the network Master> User: User who creates the shared desktop and shares it with others. This> user can decide who can connect to the desktop, or whether such decisions> will be made by popular vote. NX: Compression-algorithm created by> NoMachine that allows remote-X even over dial-up links. Core libraries are> licensed under the GPL, and free implementations exist (FreeNX) Open> Desktop: A shared desktop anyone on the network can join> freely.___________________________________________________.Account management: https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde.Archives: http://lists.kde.org/.More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html.
