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New OS wishlist | by Schol-R-LEA;2 | 2001-05-06 13:40:08 |
| I'd want dancing girls! |
by Voivod |
2001-05-06 21:51:42 |
| Schol-R-LEA;2 wrote:
>What would you want in a new OS?
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>A few things I would want:
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>- first, I'd want to stick as much as possible to the KISS idea, but at the same time try to get as many overall advantages as possible. Not too tall an order, eh? :-) Elegant minimalism should be the order of the day.
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>- I'd want it to be portable across as many different types of machine as possible.
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>- I'd want a new language to implement it in, of perhaps a family of langauges. I have largely given up in despair over the C language family; while they're the best tools available today, its more a reflection of the crappy implementations of other languages than the advantages of, say, Java, or Perl. (For more on this argument, see http://www.paulgraham.com/popular.html and http://yola.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/lisp/good-bad-win/good-bad-win.html) I like both the LISP and Smalltalk styles of syntax, something I know will gain me few friends around here. However, I just don't see the point of having to wrestle with a more complex and less flexible language design. A language with a really streamlined syntax that still allowed free access to the low-level stuff - that would be *ideal*. And there's no real reason you couldn't do it, either. I'd also want the language to scale - that is, that the low-level implementation langauge is, more or less, also the applications language, scripting language, and default shell interface. This a case where M$ had the right idea for once; but like always, what they got right in concept they screwed up practice.
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>- a portable binary format, like JVM bytecode or slim binaries but language independent, which could be either interpreted directly (for security and/or debugging) or compiled into a permanent local executable (for regular use). The JIT compiler should intelligently generate code that matches the local configuration dynamically, including on-the-fly drivers a la the Synthesis system.
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>- A UI that combines both graphics and text commands. EMACS actually is a good example of what I'm thinking, except that EMACS itself is too clumsy for naive users to be expected to master quickly. I'd want both a command bar for most windows, and a master command window for the system overall. GUI commands would be shortcuts to shell commands, and anyone can create a new icon or menu item for the tools they use regularly. There would also be a toolbox menu-of-menus with the functions/methods/tools available to use, both for calling a command or for building a shortcut.
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>- a document system (not file system) that has built-in support for small-chunk-size hyperlinking across networks, relational comparisons, fast searches, single-copy-multiple-linkage storage, authorship and version tracking, automatic document hiding and encryption support, and unlimited undo/redo - in other words, the Xanadu system, or at least a substantial subset of it. I'm not going to push that one too hard, though, at least not without consulting Nelson-sensei about it. Like I said, this is a wish, or perhaps more of a pipe-dream, but it's what I want.
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> - SMP should be supported as a matter of course, and it should be possible for processes to 'float' between different machines, to allow better load balancing.
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>- I'd want a system of online archives which could mirror local machine's data and setup. I'd want it possible to log in on any machine in the world, and provided it is on the Internet, be able to bring up the same environment I have at home. Again, while M$ tried to do this, they made a botch of it generally speaking. I should be as transparent as possible.
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>- I'd want support for both debugging and virus checking in the kernel, at least in the form of hooks for third-party software.
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>This just a start; I have a lot of other ideas as well. Some of these are not practical, and some are even contradictory. Still, it gives some idea of how I envision my Dream Machine.
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>Does anyone else want to share their idea of a perfect OS? |
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