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Gosling: If I Designed a Window System Today...

Posted by michael on from the hindsight-is-20-20 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In his blog entry for the 10th August, James Gosling (finally) publishes a short paper he wrote in 2002 entitled 'Window System Design: If I had to do it over again in 2002'. His design is to make the window system do the absolute minimum and move all the work into the client."

16 of 431 comments (clear)

  1. If I were to design a window system today by shfted! · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd make it opaque to keep my arch nemisis, the Evil Yellow Face from entering my underground command center... though my mom alredy complains the basement is too dark.

    --
    He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
    1. Re:If I were to design a window system today by sporktoast · · Score: 4, Funny

      For a minute there, I thought you were talking about a different Evil Yellow Face.

      --
      In a related story, the IRS has recently ruled that the cost of Windows upgrades can NOT be deducted as a gambling loss.
    2. Re:If I were to design a window system today by Anonymous+Writer · · Score: 2, Funny

      It is dangerous though at certain times of the day if you live on busy streets with cars and your windows point towards them.

      Not to mention everyone will think your growing an indoor hydroponic crop or running a crack house.

  2. I Love Linux! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Why speculate about how Windows could be recreated with all the Linux distros that exist and the ease of any user rolling their own?

    I defecated on my old Windows CDs and buried them in the yard. Sadly enough, when I told this to some Windows users, they actually mentioned that they wanted the CDs and asked me very seriously without a hint of joking, "can you dig it up?"

    *snort* Sounds like a drug addict who will search through feces to dig out a fix. Sad.

    1. Re:I Love Linux! by Beek · · Score: 1, Funny

      Wow, you really do love Linux! :-)

  3. Wait... by StevenHenderson · · Score: 4, Funny

    His design is to make the window system do the absolute minimum and move all the work into the client.

    Wait, so you mean you wouldn't require this?
    http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/04/222 3237&tid=201&tid=137

  4. Re:Good idea by TykeClone · · Score: 5, Funny
    Further, more money could be saved by making the clients with simple monochrome monitors (say green in color) with VT100 keyboards.

    Sounds like it's back to the future.

    --
    A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
  5. Re:Don't remember who it was... by kvigor · · Score: 4, Funny


    <objection tone="disgusted">
    <body>xml is too sodding verbose for any use ever anywhere. Satan himself recoils before its horror.
    </body>
    </objection>

  6. Hey JC, sir, after you do the outer space thing by 2TecTom · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... could you take a wee break between engines and do an Id OpenGL GNU GUI?

    --
    Words to men, as air to birds.
  7. Sounds like a good idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..But then what will I make my hat out of?

  8. Yes, but... by Phekko · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...what do you think of a person who only does the bare minimum?

    --

    Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
  9. If I had the chance... by Madcapjack · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I had the chance to do it, I'd call it Lindows.

    --
    Logic, macros, and more
  10. Re:No thanks by burki · · Score: 2, Funny

    specially if it is as sexy as his last window toolkit

  11. Gosling on everythign and anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I designed an $X today, it would be built with nanobots and turn the Earth's surface into a gray goo.

    Later some small robotic rovers will come by and say "Holy shit it look like there used to be water on this planet!"

  12. Re:Don't remember who it was... by julesh · · Score: 2, Funny

    You forgot to define a schema and use namespaces to reference all your tags, as most modern XML based systems seem to do. Here's a revised version:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
    <argument:objection xmlns:argument="http://www.mynamespaceserver.com/n amespaces/argument" tone="disgusted">
    <argument:body>xml is too sodding verbose for any use ever anywhere. Satan himself recoils before its horror.
    </argument:body>
    </argument:objection>

  13. Re:Don't remember who it was... by julesh · · Score: 2, Funny

    * 897 FETCH (ENVELOPE ("Sat, 21 Aug 2004 15:39:35 +0100" "Re:Don't remember who it was..." (("Julian Hall" NIL "jules" "acris.co.uk")) (("Julian Hall" NIL "jules" "acris.co.uk")) (("Julian Hall" NIL "jules" "acris.co.uk")) (("Julian Hall" NIL "jules" "acris.co.uk")) NIL NIL NIL "") BODY[1] {32}
    What, you mean like IMAP does?
    )