3 ms·

All of the Linux desktop environments feel like thin skins compared to what we had in the past. I keep hoping somebody will implement OS/2's Workplace Shell fo

All of the Linux desktop environments feel like thin skins compared to what we had in the past. I keep hoping somebody will implement OS/2's Workplace Shell for Linux. Rexx would be nice too but I suspect most people would rather stick with a scripting language they already know. https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/The_WorkPlace_Shell,_A_Powerful_Jewel_of_OS/2_and_eComStation._Part_1:_Some_Background https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/The_WorkPlace_Shell,... https://komh.github.io/os2books/pdf/OS2_REXX.pdf https://komh.github.io/os2books/pdf/OS2_REXX.pdf

katzinsky 2y ago
People keep forgetting Wish still exists and many Open Source GUI apps are scriptable with guile. And the reality is that Linux desktop environments are skins. The widget toolkit is almost always a separate project. This is becoming even more pronounced with eg Wayland where the compositor just hands the client a surface to render its UI on and knows absolutely nothing about widgets or fonts (not that people have been seriously using those features of X11 for a while anyway.) And honestly this is preferable. It looks hideous but it's much more pleasant to use. CWM doesn't have many features but the few it does have (such as the regex window title search) I so dearly miss on much nicer looking UIs (like OSX on my work computer.)
- orbisvicis 2y ago
  > many Open Source GUI apps are scriptable with guile. What does this mean?
martzy13 2y ago
Is it possible to summarize what this is/was? I know I could RTFM but it's 336 pages, and the wiki didn't seem to shed any light on this for me.
- samstave 2y ago
  screens only appear on page 120+ of the pdf - and its talking about the coding of the actual UI elements... Interesting history - but feed that to an LLM to grok - not a human (Sadly, some technical writer prolly almost committed suicide writing that by deadline) --- but my other points still stand on the stat of Desktop UX (Specifically experience) -- when it comes to re-envisioning the actal X part of a destop UI/UX -- so little vision is happening (it would seem -- Im sure there are a flurry of dark-web eastern EU Bulgarian Hackers (looking at you Ivo) that could pull off a better new idea given some attention from real TechBro Money)
- Lammy 2y ago
  I don't know how to summarize WPS with words, but I can testify to the fact that the combination of WorkPlace Shell + ThinkPad X61 TrackPoint is the strongest mind-computer synergy I've ever experienced and the only computer interface I can use fully ambidextrously.

katzinsky 2y ago

People keep forgetting Wish still exists and many Open Source GUI apps are scriptable with guile. And the reality is that Linux desktop environments are skins. The widget toolkit is almost always a separate project. This is becoming even more pronounced with eg Wayland where the compositor just hands the client a surface to render its UI on and knows absolutely nothing about widgets or fonts (not that people have been seriously using those features of X11 for a while anyway.) And honestly this is preferable. It looks hideous but it's much more pleasant to use. CWM doesn't have many features but the few it does have (such as the regex window title search) I so dearly miss on much nicer looking UIs (like OSX on my work computer.)

orbisvicis 2y ago
> many Open Source GUI apps are scriptable with guile. What does this mean?

martzy13 2y ago

Is it possible to summarize what this is/was? I know I could RTFM but it's 336 pages, and the wiki didn't seem to shed any light on this for me.

samstave 2y ago
screens only appear on page 120+ of the pdf - and its talking about the coding of the actual UI elements... Interesting history - but feed that to an LLM to grok - not a human (Sadly, some technical writer prolly almost committed suicide writing that by deadline) --- but my other points still stand on the stat of Desktop UX (Specifically experience) -- when it comes to re-envisioning the actal X part of a destop UI/UX -- so little vision is happening (it would seem -- Im sure there are a flurry of dark-web eastern EU Bulgarian Hackers (looking at you Ivo) that could pull off a better new idea given some attention from real TechBro Money)
Lammy 2y ago
I don't know how to summarize WPS with words, but I can testify to the fact that the combination of WorkPlace Shell + ThinkPad X61 TrackPoint is the strongest mind-computer synergy I've ever experienced and the only computer interface I can use fully ambidextrously.