[COLUG] David

[Jonadab the Unsightly One]

Jess Balint <dollzerr at iwaynet.net> writes:

> Yes, there are tons of web applications, but:
> 
> * Graphics, GIMP, Photoshop, Flash (designing)
> * Office Stuff (word processing, spreadsheets)
> * REAL email clients
> * Music players
> * Programming tools
> * CD burning
> * UNIX Shell in a web browser ;)
> 
> I would be interested seeing programs like that in a web browser. Some
> could be done with Java applets or ActiveX, but I just don't see this.

Basic word-processing shouldn't be a major problem, I think.  OEone
has done some interesting work in this area; they're running the word
processor on the client, but the interface integration is interesting.
Converting the actual meat of the word processing software to run on
the browser (using Java or scripts and DOM) would be real work with
marginal benefit, perhaps, but it ought to be possible.  It could get
to be problematic if you're doing fancy stuff, but a lot of users
never do anything much more advanced than copy and paste with their
word processor, and I think something adequate for many users could be
done in a web-based app, assuming we're allowed to use a lot of
client-side scripting and some moderately cutting-edge DOM stuff.  The
printer(s) would have to be hooked up to the servers.  That could be
construed as either an important feature or a severe limitation[1].

Remote shell has been done, but I don't think it supported everything
a full-featured terminal does.

Serious graphics work could be a much larger problem, though.  When
you start talking about running filters on a good-sized image, you
either need to do the computations locally (which implies significant
amounts of RAM and CPU on the client) or else you need really good
bandwidth between the local user and wherever it's happening.  And
that's setting aside interface issues for the most part.  Zooming also
would be a major bandwidth nightmare if you don't have all your state
on the client side -- and if you do, then we're talking about a couple
of gigabytes of RAM on the client, plus once again probably doing most
of the computations there (lest you have to sync the state with the
server every operation), and at that point you about might as well
just run the software on the client, even if you store both the
software and the data on a server's disk.

So yeah, it could work for some users but not for all.

--- 

[1] Which way you construe it depends on whether you're in the user
    camp ("I want my printout to come out here at my desk, and you can
    stuff that nonsense about saving a few cents by making me walk
    halfway across the building every time I print") or the admin camp
    ("I want to get something done all day besides fixing printers, so
    instead of one printer in every cubicle I want just a small
    handful of shared printers").  This is one of those debates
    wherein neither side is going to convince the other, so it's a
    question of which side can convince management.  So the crafty
    admin proposes a plan wherein there's a laser printer in the
    boss's office, since the boss "might need to print sensitive
    documents", a heavy-duty impact printer in accounting (the kind
    with the green and white paper) for running off large print jobs
    in bulk, plus shared printer(s) in a central area for "everyone".
    And if there's a marketing department or an art/graphis
    department, one more printer there that produces good quality if
    you don't mind waiting a few minutes for your print job to finish,
    ideally one that can do esoteric stuff like 11x17, card stock, or
    glossy prints.  With any luck, the boss goes for this plan since
    A) it makes sense and B) there's a printer in the boss's office.

    The admin then sets up a cron job for April 1 that prints out
    "Printer Driver Error:  #E1178, Incorrect Configuration.  Adjust
    printer driver configuration and press Reinstall button to
    continue" on the boss's printer at about 9:20am.

-- 
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