Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 17

Thread: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Beans
    0

    Lightbulb Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Thoughts and notes for Mark Shuttleworth and/or Canonical …


    Ubuntu can lead the way for write-once-run-anywhere operating systems by adding provisions for more mice and properly calling multi-touch routines from the mouse routines. Read on to consider some of the reasons why.


    Why is Windows 8 so roundly reviled by so many users of desktop computers?


    Because Win 8 left them out, that's why!


    Think about it: Most of the bells, whistles and golly-wow stuff is intended for use with touch screens, slower and battery-limited processor and graphics power, small screen real estate and so on. Sure, we desktop users have hugely larger budgets for electrical, processor and graphics power, as well as memory and screen size – but we don't have touch screens, and many of the things that touch screens can brings us, mice and keyboards just can't.


    Or can they – perhaps with a little help?


    I'm thinking like this: Much of what touch screens do is exactly the same as what mice do – they capture gestures made by human hands. That means that, as long as you're capturing only one point of control, you can do exactly the same things with mice and touch screens. You may have to compensate for different viewing options and for different sized areas of control (hot spots), but there's no real difference for the computer. No, the difference comes in when you need multiple control points … like you do for all the multi-touch stuff. You know, the pinching to shrink and the spreading to grow, and like that. Anything of that sort, and you bang your head against the limitations of the traditional mouse/keyboard setup, because the mouse gives you the one and only point of control that you have.


    Traditional software companies are disinclined to solve this problem, since they are being encouraged by the traditional hardware guys to drive the sales of new hardware by giving us software that older hardware can't run. If we want the problem solved, we'll need to do it ourselves.


    Guess what? We can do it, and for little or no money per computer!


    You see, in order to deal ourselves into the new bells and whistles, we need mostly (or only) to give ourselves more than one point of control – and for the desktop computer, this additional point of control is easily provided by a second mouse!


    A second mouse will provide that much more gesture capture power, including provision for clicks and drags, and anything one could do with two fingers on the same hand one can do with two mice – so long as the mice were properly configured. In order for this method to work well, one mouse would have to become the left mouse, with its right button configured as its primary button (the one usually used for clicking and dragging purposes. I have seen Xfce attempt to address this shortcoming, but the proper configuration doesn't last; on the next reboot, all is forgotten, and the left mouse falls back into right-hand mode again, never to return. The fact that it works at all proves that the idea can work, though, and that means that Linux can do something that Linux has seldom – or never – done before: Lead the way for all the other platforms.


    Gentle People: I give you … Multi-Mouse!


    Put together support for two or more mice, making each one independently and persistently configurable. Give each mouse a unique and easily identifiable cursor. Two buttons pressed down should alert the system to be ready to do pinch/spread/multi-touch things. Otherwise, treat the mice like mice.


    I figure that this should be resource friendly from the standpoint that most, if not all, of the routines used to make Multi-Mouse happen should already exist. Mice have been standard computer equipment for decades, and multi-touch routines have been written for years, so it should be mostly a matter of getting the mouse routines to call and pass data to the multi-touch routines when it's needed. And instead of shelling out big bucks for touch screens or touch mice or any other pricey hardware, the only hardware upgrade needed is a mouse, some of which I've seen for sale for three dollars. The price of admission is dirt cheap!


    Along with provisions for staples like icons you can resize and other things to take advantage of desktop computer hardware when it's available, Multi-Mouse can be an enormous draw for desktop users. Imagine Ubuntu Unity being hailed, rather than panned! Could such capability be baked into Ubuntu for Android? If so, could it not be better than taking one's hands off the desktop to manipulate a touch screen?


    While some desktop users just will not like the experiences that interfaces like Unity and Windows 8 provide, many others just need a way to tap into the new features in ways relevant to their systems. The old schoolers can work with MATE or Cinnamon and get their way, while the addition of a second mouse and a few lines of accommodating code can throw open the doors to multi-touch power for more daring souls. How hard would it be?
    Last edited by coldstlouis; October 6th, 2012 at 04:49 PM. Reason: A bit of clean-up.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    S.H.I.E.L.D. 6-1-6
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu Development Release

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Not a support/ubuntu question - Moved to community Cafe
    Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions ... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Magic City of the Plains
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Xubuntu Development Release

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Quote Originally Posted by coldstlouis View Post
    Thoughts and notes for Mark Shuttleworth and/or Canonical …
    See http://www.canonical.com/about-canonical/contact

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Beans
    1

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    I think most organizations would find it cost beneficial to adopt ubuntu / libreoffice in favor of windows / office from microsoft. the cost and technical analysis would bear this out.

    if an organization has 500,000 desktops/ laptops that would save somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million/ annually.

    Doc Thunderbird

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Fukuoka, Japan
    Beans
    1,064
    Distro
    Kubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Two mice? I need three hands for that. No thanks. Pass.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Beans
    86
    Distro
    Ubuntu

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Quote Originally Posted by DocThunderbird View Post
    I think most organizations would find it cost beneficial to adopt ubuntu / libreoffice in favor of windows / office from microsoft. the cost and technical analysis would bear this out.

    if an organization has 500,000 desktops/ laptops that would save somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million/ annually.

    Doc Thunderbird
    LibreOffice kind of sucks. For the enterprise Google Docs is more useful.

    And where do you get those numbers for the cost of MS Office? My father runs an 'enterprise' network, he gets MS Office licenses for $50/licence... Heck, my student copy of Office 2010 Professional cost only $100...

    Microsoft products aren't particularly expensive, especially compared to paid Linux support from Red Hat, SUSE or Oracle...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Mystletainn Kick!
    Beans
    13,596
    Distro
    Ubuntu

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Something about two mice seems overly maniacal.
    I can only picture myself laughing like a madman, bent on taking over the world.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    A world without windows
    Beans
    Hidden!

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Quote Originally Posted by whatthefunk View Post
    Two mice? I need three hands for that. No thanks. Pass.
    = one dead rat

    that could be one hand free , that is mice ee . micy

    how do you do you spell micy . is it missy or micy or rats , got it be easier rat + ratty

    well got a new term , pinch two rats by the pincers , ensure it ain't a male , cos it will squeel , squeal . like you Know what , suppose it be different mouse with three tails

    cos a combination of three has already been , Adjudicated as patentable ,by method

    I here by declare , A method of Two Rats are better than Two mice.

    Rats, Patentee. patent Applied for , all rights or lefts , + intellectual , as in Thickness

    belongs to the Rat .
    Two tin cans are better than an iphone

    http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2067160_ma...hone.html?cr=1

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Beans
    25

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Like Mark, but I take some things he says with a pinch of salt. He said something about Ubuntu aiming for 200 million users and then released Unity, something which actually scared many people away. He's very keen with what he does, but sometimes I don't think very realistic.



    $200 million/ annually.
    If they already paid for Windows they wouldn't be saving anything. They would just be throwing away something they actually paid for. In fact it would cost them more because it's never free to roll out an operating system on that many computers.

    If they were using brand new computers with no O/S then they would save the cost of Windows/Office. However staff would need to be retrained, there may be issues opening MS Office files from customers/clients (OO is not 100% compatible with office formats), some industry specific software applications may not work eg. MailSort software, the choice of hardware devices would be extremely limited because all hardware would need to be Linux friendly, there is no Outlook, Access equivelents in Libre Office. It would be very challenging to push a free operating system onto that many people, because people actually like to have access to the expensive software applications.
    Last edited by mr john; October 7th, 2012 at 03:54 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Beans
    0

    Re: Mobile and Desktop Dominance!

    Quote Originally Posted by whatthefunk View Post
    Two mice? I need three hands for that. No thanks. Pass.
    I agree that two mice isn't for everyone. The idea is versatility: Use two mice (with access to multi-touch gesture control) if you want to and stick with one mouse if that other mess isn't worth it to you.

    One more thing that you can do in Linux that you can't do in Windows -- at least without paying a mint!

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •