A weird idea.

[Kossilar]

The other day I successfully installed Beryl on my system and I've been happily rotating ever since.

This morning while I was lying in bed I had a strange idea.

What if you developed a kind of server that would allow users to login to the server, be presented with a desktop and have that desktop become one side in a 3D Beryl style cube(polygon?).

Application handling would be done server side and graphics handling would be done client side. So users would be able to pass open applications and files to each other via the edge of their desktops.

It seems like this kind of environment might be excellent for developers or teams working on large collaborative projects, like the Open Movie project for example(Elephants Dream?)

Obviously, more brainstorming as to how this would actually work is necessary. But its interesting food for thought.

[fuscia]

What if you developed a kind of server that would allow users to login to the server, be presented with a desktop and have that desktop become one side in a 3D Beryl style cube(polygon?).

people who don't like each other could fire gaming guns into the other person's workspace.

[Kossilar]

That's hilarious. I didn't even consider the entertainment potential of that kind of environment. ;)

[Tomosaur]

Wouldn't really be too difficult, it just has no real application. Why would anybody use it?

[mips]

This whole cube/3d desktop thing simply has no practical application for so I would not be interested.

[OldTimeTech]

check this link out.....
http://www.knosos.be

maybe they could use something like you imagine

[phossal]

Wouldn't really be too difficult, it just has no real application. Why would anybody use it?

Um, ipod cover (c'mon, it has HOLES in it), pet rock, garden gnome, Windows... If you build it, someone, somewhere will find a use for it. The real questions is, would anyone you respect use it?

[fuscia]

in the area of parental controls, a virtual fence could be erected when one user wants to keep the next user's son from talking to his daughter.

[userundefine]

This whole cube/3d desktop thing simply has no practical application for so I would not be interested.
That's kind of a ridiculous response. The OP is proposing a practical application for it right now!

I think it sounds interesting and would make it much easier to collaborate on projects for people that do better sitting next to each other but can't.

[mykalreborn]

i like the idea. but since linux is an OPEN comunity, there should be a sfere instead of a cube. so no one would try to keep anything from anyone. ;)

[beercz]

This is a good idea and has potential.

One issue that would need to be resolved is what happens if there say 8 people working on the same project, and the user in screen 2 wishes to pass a file to the user on screen 7. Would the user in screen 2 have to pass the file to the user in screen 3, who in turn would need to pass the same file to the user in screen 4, and so on until the user in screen 6 would finally pass the file to the user in screen 7?

If there are a lot of files to pass to each other it could get rather confusing :-)

I like fuscia's idea of gunning each other's workspace though - that would be great fun :-)

[G Morgan]

Don't be absurd, the person simply puts enough momentum on the file so it goes all the way to the targeted user. You could go further and impart spin so when it lands it kicks off and moves on a few more desktops. You could wind a person up by sending them a file and having it bounce off their desktop all the way back to you.

[G Morgan]

TBH it might not be that bad an idea. In extreme programming they use something called pair programming where people, surprisingly enough, work as duos. If you did this via the tubes using AIGLX you could mount your partners desktop on the cube. Then if he says look at this rather than wait for a file to get sent you just grab the cube and spin it.

What we're essentially talking about is something like a VNC where the RFB is imposed on your Beryl cube and files are transferred via FTP when they are moved off the end of the screen. Would take some work to integrate it but it could be done.

[Lord Illidan]

You could play Pong with your wobbly windows!

[G Morgan]

If you used something like this (http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/bumptop-alternative-desktop-interface-06210627/) you could blast the other guys GVim session off screen with streams of crumpled up copies of the Emacs source code.

[beercz]

Don't be absurd, the person simply puts enough momentum on the file so it goes all the way to the targeted user. You could go further and impart spin so when it lands it kicks off and moves on a few more desktops. You could wind a person up by sending them a file and having it bounce off their desktop all the way back to you.

And you tell me not to be absurd!! ;-) Only joking!!

I reckon it would be great fun to use though. Would any work get done I wonder?

[qalimas]

I can see the Beryl part of this making it rather... not work friendly?

However, I can say it would be really nice to connect to a server and have your one desktop, and your desktop pager on the screen change to the other peoples desktops (not letting you modify anything unless they press a hotkey?). Right clicking a window in the taskbar and then clicking Send To Desktop > Desktop X could send windows to them.

I like this idea, but with the eye candy taken out.

[RAV TUX]

a 3D ball would be nice

[The Noble]

I find this would be the most awsome use of beryl (and the other desktops) ever. I would love to be able to instruct my friend to use linux by physically moving windows for him and showing him how to do certain things. What would be even better would be having my mouse on his screen (2 mice in total) as well as almost full control over the desktop? The only hurdles are the internet speed and the maturity of the code. Bravo on a good idea!

[Hendrixski]

Wow, that is a good idea. The first functional use of Beryl (other than advertising Linux to new users by sheer wow factor). I could totally use a multi-user desktop environment. It would be interesting to decide who controls the mouse if a user flips to another users desktop.

I like it!

[Tomosaur]

Hmmm. Now that I've had time to think, I do think this could be a pretty good idea. However, some points:

1) Will this be web-based (ie, you access it through a website), or will it mean physically connecting to another user's box? If the latter, this could present some problems regarding upload speeds - the protocol would have to be pretty tight.
2) How would you work around copyright issues etc? Things like media and such on one user's desktop can be played on someone elses computer. I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, but things aren't exactly 'relaxed' right now. The only way around this as far as I can see, is to disallow file-sharing (in the sense that the file is transferred to your computer), and only allow 'file-previewing' - ie: the file is 'streamed' to you through X or some audio streamer. This, again, would hamper connection speeds in some cases.

I find it interesting. I might try and knock something up to see how feasible it is. I can't imagine it would need much more work than has already been done (ie, we already have beryl, X already allows forwarding etc). It really seems like it could be done pretty quickly.

[Kossilar]

One issue that would need to be resolved is what happens if there say 8 people working on the same project, and the user in screen 2 wishes to pass a file to the user on screen 7. Would the user in screen 2 have to pass the file to the user in screen 3, who in turn would need to pass the same file to the user in screen 4, and so on until the user in screen 6 would finally pass the file to the user in screen 7?

If there are a lot of files to pass to each other it could get rather confusing

Well in the current Beryl setup you can right click on a window and choose "Send to workspace 1" or 2, 3, 4 whatever. Maybe the server will use the users login name or another identifier to identify their workspace. So you'd get: "Send to Kossilar's workspace" or whatever. Then the window would pop up wherever you sent it. (Or show up minimized depending on preferences).


1) Will this be web-based (ie, you access it through a website), or will it mean physically connecting to another user's box? If the latter, this could present some problems regarding upload speeds - the protocol would have to be pretty tight.

It seems like both should be equally possible. However I was thinking more about a physical connection. Like people who are working together in the same building or office space.


2) How would you work around copyright issues e2) How would you work around copyright issues etc? Things like media and such on one user's desktop can be played on someone elses computer. I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, but things aren't exactly 'relaxed' right now. The only way around this as far as I can see, is to disallow file-sharing (in the sense that the file is transferred to your computer), and only allow 'file-previewing' - ie: the file is 'streamed' to you through X or some audio streamer. This, again, would hamper connection speeds in some cases.

Well since we're talking primarily about development environments. That doesn't seem like too big of an issue. Ultimately its up to the user to make sure they're not infringing on copywrite law.



i like the idea. but since linux is an OPEN comunity, there should be a sfere instead of a cube. so no one would try to keep anything from anyone.

Well each user would need to have their own desktop, which implies a square, since our monitors are square. However, if you had a high number of people connected to the server, it might make sense to allow the architecture of the object to expand in that direction.

Despite the fact that this is an open community, that doesn't mean that individual users don't have a right to privacy ;)


TBH it might not be that bad an idea. In extreme programming they use something called pair programming where people, surprisingly enough, work as duos. If you did this via the tubes using AIGLX you could mount your partners desktop on the cube. Then if he says look at this rather than wait for a file to get sent you just grab the cube and spin it.

What we're essentially talking about is something like a VNC where the RFB is imposed on your Beryl cube and files are transferred via FTP when they are moved off the end of the screen. Would take some work to integrate it but it could be done.

Well the files and whatnot would be handled server-side, to facilitate passing them off to other users. However it would make sense that users could download the files to work on them offline... or not, depending on the project and its requirements.

So yeah, that sounds like exactly what I'm talking about. (I had to look up VNC and RFB cause I'm a huge n00b).


If you used something like this you could blast the other guys GVim session off screen with streams of crumpled up copies of the Emacs source code.

Wow. THAT is cool.

Hey everybody check out Bumptop while we're here.

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/bumptop-alternative-desktop-interface-06210627/

Thanks for posting that link. Now imagine if you had a whole room set up like that. I'd be like a virtual office! :)

[manmower]

I don't see how this idea is even specific to Compiz/Beryl. This could work without the need for a "cube" or any other effects, practically any WM supports workspaces. The trick would be to have a bunch of people remotely login to the same session on a central server and agree on who uses which workspace (or e.g. naming the spaces accordingly).

I would feel uncomfortable knowing that one of my colleagues may be goofing off and spying on me by looking at my workspace though. :)

[mykalreborn]

Despite the fact that this is an open community, that doesn't mean that individual users don't have a right to privacy ;)

oh, you're right. this may work in something educational or something public anyway.
but, from what i'm reading here some people are taking this idea seriously?

[Kossilar]

Well its just just connectivity for the sake of connectivity. It would be for the sake of collaboration, so having your colleagues looking at what your working on isn't such a big deal. Besides, the system could easily be programmed to distinguish between what's happing on the server and what's happening natively.

The project you'd be working on would remain on the server and all the files would be shared. But you could still say, run mozilla on your home computer. If a colleague looked over at your virtual desktop on the server, he'd only see the files and windows that the server was dealing with on your desktop, not what you had open on your own system.

[The Noble]

How about being able to instance the applications you want, when you want? I mean, it would be nice to be able to just start using firefox as if it had never been touched, while you bookmarks would all be instact in the regular "open firefox" command.