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Ideas | Propositions

Subjects Author Language Messages Last message
[Locked] Cairo as Shell
jesuisbenjamin English 11 jesuisbenjamin [Read]
05 November 2010 à 12:31

What idea do you like? (2)

Integrate completely the OS menus
  
50% (1)
Prepare for touch-screen technology
 
0% (0)
Shell function with a dynamic interface
  
50% (1)
Type-search function (as Gnome-Do)
 
0% (0)
Voice recognition
 
0% (0)
Integrate the terminal
 
0% (0)

jesuisbenjamin, Tuesday 02 November 2010 à 17:45


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
Hi there,

I'm thinking about Cairo and wonder as to whether there is a 5 or 10 years plan, a vision as to how you see Cairo on the long term and how it can compete with (although in a friendly competition) other dock/applet/interface programs.

One of the things that can make Cairo a nicer (it's very nice already ) would be to make it the sole program to interact with programs, applets, and files. Right now as i use it (and i believe it would be hard to do otherwise), it is on the side of the Shell, Menus, Gnome-Do and Terminal. I believe Cairo as more potential however. In fact i could integrate all this in a highly interactive and efficient interface. If Cairo was my project i would look at the following possibilities:

  • Integrate completely the OS menus, offering a nice overview and an efficient way to access things as fast as possible.
  • Prepare for touch-screen technology which will become dominant on the market.
  • Offer a shell function (as in file browser) with a dynamic interface (it can do so somehow already, but it should be more window-like, less shortcutish). A nice tree view of the computer-content, to be navigated through with few clicks and scrolls would be awesome.
  • Add a type-search function as Gnome-Do does. This would allow Cairo to include all launchers possible and making theme visible only when needed.
  • Think of voice recognition (how highly difficult a thing to program it can be) to launch applications etc.
  • Integrate the terminal function, or a command-line entry plug-in.


All in all, Cairo, on the long term, should in my opinion be seen as an all-encompassing desktop interface application.

Or am i delirious?
B.

taiebot65, Tuesday 02 November 2010 à 19:50


Subscription date : 26 October 2008
Messages : 1904
I would as a first choice use the number one.
Integrate completely the OS menus or replace them totally in a prettier way.
Which is what cairo-dock is : a beautiful dock...
and what he should stay we should bring more nicer way to display our desktop and the infos we want to see.
I think quality of finitions like effects or views should be the number one priority.

This project miss a lead by design from my point of view. We all managed to get the dock we wanted by feature request our bugs, but When i saw the maybe project screenshot in an other post that's when i thought that what's was missing to cairo-dock a lead by design.
We should have more mockups and ideas how desktop should look or be and fabounet would do the magic :-D.

Because in the maybe screenshot i can see a lots of applets of cairo-dock which could lead to this. Who talked about doncky ?

fabounet, Wednesday 03 November 2010 à 17:54


Subscription date : 30 November 2007
Messages : 17118
the "maybe screenshot" ?
I agree with mockups, it's just too hard to develop without.

Prepare for touch-screen technology

in this optic, I've already added in the menus all actions on middle-click
also, auto-hide is thought to work on a tablet (with the callback zone)

Offer a shell function (as in file browser) with a dynamic interface (it can do so somehow already, but it should be more window-like, less shortcutish). A nice tree view of the computer-content, to be navigated through with few clicks and scrolls would be awesome.

shouldn't it be the job of Nautilus ?

Add a type-search function as Gnome-Do does. This would allow Cairo to include all launchers possible and making theme visible only when needed.

I totally agree and there is already a more-or-less functionnal applet, but I'm stuck at the moment on which search engine use (tracker, zeitgeist, google desktop, etc)


Integrate the terminal function, or a command-line entry plug-in.
what about the terminal applet ?

Integrate completely the OS menus, offering a nice overview and an efficient way to access things as fast as possible.

need a mockup

jesuisbenjamin, Wednesday 03 November 2010 à 18:58


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
fabounet :

shouldn't it be the job of Nautilus ?

Well yes and no. I mean it is not a short term function of Cairo, but when you think about it, Cairo already provides access to files and applications, it is short of doing the rest. It's mostly about how you present these files and applications to the user. Thinking from a dock point of view may reveal a new dimension to using a shell. I'm not clear myself, but i know i find Nautilus cumbersome (and any other shell that is). I personally imagine a 3D tree view of the computers with "nodes" rather than folders. Combined with touch-screen it would be even more powerful.

what about the terminal applet ?

Fair enough, i completely skipped it. Although i was more thinking of a command-line launcher (which is getting close to the Gnome-do comparison).

need a mockup :D


Here is one possibility to start with: http://www.glx-dock.org/bg_topic.php?t=4885

taiebot65, Wednesday 03 November 2010 à 20:15


Subscription date : 26 October 2008
Messages : 1904
fabounet :
the "maybe screenshot" ?

http://gnome-look.org/CONTENT/content-pre1/45837-1.jpg

I am surprise you have never seen this one. It has been around for 2 years. Still a lots of comments on gnome-look even nowadays..

Me i can see doncky applets fully integrated to the dock...with a zone for text writting.
And click zone where there is icons. or actions

fabounet, Thursday 04 November 2010 à 11:24


Subscription date : 30 November 2007
Messages : 17118
oh ok I have seen it indeed

Although i was more thinking of a command-line launcher

in this case, maybe the GMenu applet, which has a quick-launcher (middle-click or shortcut)

anyway I see the dock more like an interface, a front-end to other components/services. for instance the new zeitgeist search engine (it's plain Dbus, so easy to interface)

jesuisbenjamin, Thursday 04 November 2010 à 11:31


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
fabounet :

in this case, maybe the GMenu applet, which has a quick-launcher (middle-click or shortcut)


got it

matttbe, Thursday 04 November 2010 à 22:40


Subscription date : 24 January 2009
Messages : 12573
Thank you jesuisbenjamin for this topic

For me the thing that I want to see with Cairo-Dock on the "middle" term is an interface like Gnome-Shell or Unity and which is optimised for Compiz. In fact, we can maybe work with Compiz Devs to have something "against" Gnome-Shell/Unity but much much more better

jesuisbenjamin, Thursday 04 November 2010 à 22:52


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
matttbe :

For me the thing that I want to see with Cairo-Dock on the "middle" term is an interface like Gnome-Shell or Unity and which is optimised for Compiz. In fact, we can maybe work with Compiz Devs to have something "against" Gnome-Shell/Unity but much much more better :P


You mean as in proposition 3?
Then, yes, i definitely agree: i think Cairo is already an interface to programs and deamons, it's a shortcut to files as well, but rather as a stack of folders. It's just a step away from being a shell in fact. Compiz is definitely Cairo's best friend on that path.

jesuisbenjamin, Friday 05 November 2010 à 01:40


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
fabounet :

I agree with mockups, it's just too hard to develop without. [...] need a mockup :D


Well here you go: a mockup of what i think a global menu applet should look like (pardon me the few details, like the absence of a mouse-cursor):
The top left icon (finger) is the Global Menu applet icon (there are many possibilities for that: changing or superimposing the icon of the application in focus etc. This was my favourite, i.e. to keep the same icon for all apps whatsoever, so that one knows where to find one's menu and fast.)
The menu drops down, offers the title of the application in focus and all its menus. Notice the same applet would cause the menus and/or window decoration to disappear. Then you slide to the sub-menu etc. The rest is obvious.

(Notice how i am preparing you mentally to the theme i am building by posting screen-shots on a regular basis )

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7mkhSDYn8TQ/TNNQslJXssI/AAAAAAAAB-0/-tolIz0f9x8/s800/Global%20Menu%20Mockup.png

Another possibility would be a horizontal (more conventional) drop-down global menu. The global menu would appear again from pressing the "finger" icon of the global menu applet. This time however the global menu applet icon fades in and out next to the icon of the application in focus (notice ho th finger points at the application in focus )
The horizontal view would also allow for the (badly rendered in this mock-up) series of minimize, maximize and close window buttons on the right-hand side:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7mkhSDYn8TQ/TNNeHwZYvAI/AAAAAAAAB-4/e9jLwcgPtUY/s800/Global%20Menu2.png

Edit: the global menu could stay visible at all time or on-click, it could move next to the application in focus or remain on a fixed position (the last would be quasi-necessary in the case of a vertical dock if you want to keep your global menu on top of the screen.

matttbe, Friday 05 November 2010 à 11:43


Subscription date : 24 January 2009
Messages : 12573
Great idea ! (because I already mention it )

For me it can be interesting to have something like Unity or Gnome Shell with a new view, new applets (like Global Menu), etc.

jesuisbenjamin, Friday 05 November 2010 à 12:31


Subscription date : 28 October 2009
Messages : 415
Here is again an alternative to the global menu. In this scenario the global menu applet stays on top and the dock appears when clicking/hovering the global menu icon.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7mkhSDYn8TQ/TNPqewmh5ZI/AAAAAAAAB-8/62QKG-oJKWU/s800/Global%20Menu3.png

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7mkhSDYn8TQ/TNPqeyN2ZrI/AAAAAAAAB_A/jOXIJkBTV7Q/s800/Global%20Menu4.png

Ideas | Propositions

Subjects Author Language Messages Last message
[Locked] Cairo as Shell
jesuisbenjamin English 11 jesuisbenjamin [Read]
05 November 2010 à 12:31


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