3 ms·

Also, doesn't xmonad (which I happen to use) count as a "programmable GUI"?

• vezzy-fnord 11y ago
  Not really. Oberon is an example of a programmable GUI, for one.
  • trav4225 11y ago
    Interesting. I am a bit confused though as to how xmonad could not be considered programmable. I'm curious -- what does it lack in your opinion?
    • vezzy-fnord 11y ago
      It's still just a WIMP interface. It might be a more flexible one since it's tiling, and it might support a larger number of configuration options than most. An actual programmable GUI is one where there is no distinction between what is referenced at initialization and what is bound at runtime. You're actually live scripting the interface's own structures and moreover potentially concocting intricate programs out of the on-screen text that can be typed at any arbitrary offset, and is interpreted as a programming construct. Clicking on a piece of text can serve as an entry point or continuation for performing some form of computation, as it can point to anything, including the internal state of a system object. You could read people rabble, or you could just try Oberon, Bluebottle OS or similar systems.
      • delish 11y ago
        Just to rabble in agreement, one recompiles xmonad (typically with mod-q), where recompiling means loading one's entire xmonad.hs file. "Reloading a file," especially when that file is typically solely used for xmonad resources (and not for any object the user desires) is not nearly as programmable as a Smalltalk or an Oberon.
        • trav4225 11y ago
          Gotcha. Understood.
    • kragen 11y ago
      xmonad is a window manager, not a GUI. You use it to move windows of a GUI around and resize them. The GUI is what happens inside those windows.
      • trav4225 11y ago
        I see your point and don't disagree. Using these semantics then, this is all user-layer stuff, and even less of an argument against "UNIX" itself. :)