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Miscellaneous => The Lounge => Topic started by: TheQuirk on 30 July 2002, 10:39

Title: Perfect UI
Post by: TheQuirk on 30 July 2002, 10:39
What features would be, in your opinion, in the perfect UI?
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: SpeeDFreaK on 30 July 2002, 11:18
A 3d UI. A cube desktop with the program windows able to be suspended in midair, placed on a wall, tilted, rotated, manipulatable in every possible way. Maybe a winamp or xmms plugin to where one wall is used as a graphic equalizer. But I don't know how you would go about the K Menu, start button, etc.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 30 July 2002, 13:36
Hmmm, a perfect UI...  I think I've been using it for quite some time now.  It looks something like this:

[voidmain@disneyland voidmain]$
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 30 July 2002, 17:46
the perfect UI would be thought controlled......
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 31 July 2002, 01:36
UI? What is that? Is that like a GUI?
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 31 July 2002, 02:32
Well, sort of, execpt a UI doesn't necessarily have to be graphically oriented like a GUI does (Graphical User Interface).  Hence my Bash prompt example is non graphical and I am just as happy there as anywhere.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: sporkme on 31 July 2002, 03:08
i really like the 3d cube idea.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: Master of Reality on 31 July 2002, 08:23
it would involve fire.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: slave on 31 July 2002, 08:29
ultimate UI:

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp)

Voidmain you can go fondle your gay eunuchs prompt with commands like "finger" and "ramsize," but I prefer using a GUI.  No, I'm not stupid, it's just that computers seem so much more enjoyable to use these days compared to 20 years ago where everything was done on a blurry green screen prompt.  Maybe you relesh the old days because Bill Gates hadn't dominated the market with his wonderful products yet.

PS So how does this web page look under lynx?  I bet multitasking, photo editing, word processing, and file viewing are a lot easier under the command prompt, huh?  Well, I don't blame you, I mean, it's not like Linux has any capable GUI's anyway...
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: Master of Reality on 31 July 2002, 08:57
i am surprised he hasnt been banned yet.... especially after his stunts as "Mickey" and "Flaming Bag of Poo"
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: the_black_angel on 31 July 2002, 18:05
Windows XP User #5225982375
Grow up and learn some manners
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: the_black_angel on 31 July 2002, 18:08
The perfect UI - thought (direct neural connection)
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: slave on 31 July 2002, 19:45
quote:
Grow up and learn some manners


As soon as you Linux heads do the same
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 31 July 2002, 20:31
XP Luser, you still haven't answered my question that I have been asking you for so long.  If you don't like it, why are you still here?  What is it that you like about Bill Gate's dick so much?  Is it the taste?  

And to answer all of your questions, yes, file browsing, photo editing, word processing, web browsing, mail reading are *all* much easier from a shell prompt.  I can easily automate most everything that you have to do manually and let my computer do the work. After all, that's what computers are here for. To do the work for me so I can go play golf.  Dumb shit.

Automation is not a concept that Windows users can comprehend.  They would rather make love to their Windows all day long..

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 31 July 2002, 21:50
What you mean all that stuff is ACTUALLY easier without a GUI? Voidmain im begging you, record a "before and after" .avi somehow showing "l33t comp activities with GUI" and "l33t comp activities without GUI".  (http://smile.gif)

I'll watch if you make it(and make sure it doesn't leave me scratching my head).
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 31 July 2002, 21:56
The ultimate UI? Well it's a command prompt shell thingy with one big difference. You type in a simple semi-scripting language. And a standard QWERTY keyboard is a large part of it's operation. HOWEVER, it doesn't work as much like a text parser. Your commanding your comp via keystrokes, keystroke combos and acronymns. Not "CD PORNDIRECTORY". I don't know exact details, but in the end this would be the most powerful.

Takes awhile to learn though.  (http://smile.gif)
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 31 July 2002, 23:12
quote:
Originally posted by lazygamer:
The ultimate UI? Well it's a command prompt shell thingy with one big difference. You type in a simple semi-scripting language. And a standard QWERTY keyboard is a large part of it's operation. HOWEVER, it doesn't work as much like a text parser. Your commanding your comp via keystrokes, keystroke combos and acronymns. Not "CD PORNDIRECTORY". I don't know exact details, but in the end this would be the most powerful.

Takes awhile to learn though.   (http://smile.gif)  



are you crazy? two words:

thought control

they can have a monkey play simple videogames by just thinking, so it's not that far away I think either....
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 31 July 2002, 23:44
quote:
Originally posted by lazygamer:
What you mean all that stuff is ACTUALLY easier without a GUI? Voidmain im begging you, record a "before and after" .avi somehow showing "l33t comp activities with GUI" and "l33t comp activities without GUI".      (http://smile.gif)    

I'll watch if you make it(and make sure it doesn't leave me scratching my head).



I tell you what. How about I just give you a little hypothetical example similar to one of the many tasks I might have to do in a day. I just read where some bastard company took out a patent on technology used for the JPEG format and they now want to charge royalties on all JPG files.  So now I decide I want to convert all of my JPG images in any directory under my home/personal directory tree to PNG format. Without having to add any software to the default installation of my operating system I just type the single command line:

for i in `find ~ -name '*.jpg'`; do convert $i ${i%%jpg}png; done

And bingo, it's done. It took me about 2 seconds to think of and type that command and now I have a *.png copy of all of my *.jpg files. How long would it take you to think of a way to do it in Windows, and would it require you to obtain more software? How would you do it? I could have easily done this to one of my web directories on one of my remote servers in another city just as fast by including that command as part of an "ssh" command. With another command just as short I could change all of my HTML pages in all of the directories on my web root to use the PNG images instead of the JPG images:

for i in `find /webdir -name '*.html'`;do sed 's/\.jpg/\.png/g' $i > $i.tmp; mv -f $i.tmp $i; done

Sure, when you first start with UNIX it isn't this intuitive but after working with it and learning more about it, it becomes very intuitive.  This was just a hypothetical, not something I plan to do but I do similar tasks all the time, and it is easy to add such a task to a script and schedule it to run at a specific intervals etc, not that this example would be something you might automate, it's more of a one time type of thing.

Or how about something as simple as totalling up all the lines of code I have written in all of my 'C' programs:

cat `find ~ -name '*.c'` | wc -l

How would you do that?  How long did it take? And by the way, there are a hundred different ways you could have done either of the examples I gave, those were just the ones that immediately came to mind.

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 1 August 2002, 00:27
Hehehe well I suppose those are good examples.

As for mind control, I don't beleive it will go so well. Too much grey area for doing a simple task to accurately control a computer with precision. Then you have to deal with distractions messing with your already difficult "precision control".
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 1 August 2002, 00:41
And if I have to use mind control to run my computer it takes my mind off of things I really want to do, like taking the YZ out for loop through the woods.  I would rather leave the computer to do the work and not have to think about it.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 1 August 2002, 01:18
Let me clarify on what I mean Void. I mean that you still have a *nix command prompt on a screen (or a GUI or whatever the hell you like) but instead of operating them with a mouse/keyboard (which happen to be devices totally incompatible with our physical makeup) you operate them with your mind.

So instead of typing 'cd ~' you think it (which you already had to do to type it in the first place  ;) ), solves all rsi problems and it's a lot faster too   (http://smile.gif)

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: BadKarma ]

Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 1 August 2002, 01:21
That sounds cool, however, I would get porn on my screen every 7 seconds if my computer were mind contolled.  (http://smile.gif)
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 1 August 2002, 02:49
Ah, well I know it can be done. Non-graphical interfaces are DEFINITLY less grey area.

Ok let's say I was some dude from lsaffdj(don't bother getting your encyclopedia). After much effort I can speak horrible English. Hmmm mind controlled comp? Cool.

Now I boot it up.

Ceh deee d-hot d-hot crosses my mind. Now you need something that verifies your command with your intentions. If I do not desire to actually travel one directory backwards, "cd.." will not appear. In addition, the mind control has a "concentration checker". If surfing for porn suddenly crosses my mind, the system realizes im
"thinking" and freezes all input until I can prove to it im actually trying to type something with my mind.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 1 August 2002, 04:47
Now this is pure speculation (I'm not a expert on brain science  ;) ) but I wouldn't surprise me one bit that the person from lsaffdj would generate the same brainwaves when he wants to hit the c key as the american. Even though in his mind it is the Ceh key but it is the same key and requires the same physical action. And judging from the videomonkey expirement thinking that you're doing an action generates the same brainwaves as actually doing an action.

Now ofcourse there would be a few practical problems even if the theory is sound, because you'd actually have to pretend that you're using a keyboard instead of actually using one. And you'd actually had to have some kind of implant in your brains ... which is pretty much the biggest downside (then again... in 50 years brain implants could be the fashion of the day  ;) )
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 1 August 2002, 05:32
That is correct, you wouldn't think in terms of keystrokes.  You would take the JPG/PNG example above and instead of doing the command line I suggested it would go more like this:

oO[ I wish all my JPGs were PNGs ]Oo

Sure that would be easy for new users, but that's pretty much how my thought process goes now.  I think to myself "I wish all my JPGs were PNGs" and almost magically out pops:

for i in `find ~ -name '*.jpg'`; do convert $i ${i%%jpg}png; done

Granted, it would have been much easier if I could have just hooked a probe up to my brain rather than going through the 10 years of learning....

[ July 31, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 1 August 2002, 05:36
Tuhh "ceh" kee roooucksor yooj.  ;)
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: choasforages on 1 August 2002, 14:22
only 10 years, ive been using *nix for 2 years, owell, yeah, voidmain is right, porn every 7 seconds, and it would probably be dragged through aalib first, then agian, what if you were to think, ChoasNETOS is being a bitch today, FUCK IT, poof, there goes my build
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: Kintaro on 1 August 2002, 16:42
quote:
Originally posted by sporkme / bob:
i really like the 3d cube idea.


Yes i had this idea... I might mod up the Quake Source to do this, probably GlQuake.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: choasforages on 1 August 2002, 17:07
GLQUAKE based UI, that would like kick quartz extremes's ass
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 1 August 2002, 19:40
quote:
Originally posted by Ex Eleven / b0b:


Yes i had this idea... I might mod up the Quake Source to do this, probably GlQuake.



why bother? a small search on freshmeat.net showed that there are at least 3 GPL'ed 3d OpenGL filemanagers for linux.....
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: lazygamer on 1 August 2002, 22:54
3D GUI's for Linux? Are those some gimmick thing, or is it like moving around in a quake-ish world that is linked to your comp?
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 1 August 2002, 23:15
Well, here is ThreeDFM:

http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/20082/ (http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/20082/)

What were the other two?  ThreeDFM reminds me of the open source network monitoring packages I use (netsaint). Using it I made a VRML network map that you can navigate in 3d and easily see what network devices are having trouble.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: badkarma on 1 August 2002, 23:42
3dfile:

http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/14/ (http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/14/)

Orbis:

http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/21012/ (http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/21012/)

TDFSB:

http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/12856/ (http://freshmeat.net/screenshots/12856/)

According to my boss there is also a 3d desktop environment being developed. Have to ask him for the link though because I couldn't find it.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: AlexMax on 6 August 2002, 05:28
The perfect UI for me is a command line.  To hell with Windows Explorer, give me a DOS prompt any day.  And with Linux, it's no contest for bash.

Command lines are so convenient.  Not just in an OS either.  Having used AutoCAD LT for a while now, I don't know what the heck I would do if they axed the command line.  And that's just one example of how good command lines are.  Can a GUI handle wildcards well?  Didn't think so, unless it's *.* (Select all).

I highly doubt that command lines will ever be phased out on the higher level programs.  No, XP is not a high level program.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: TheQuirk on 7 August 2002, 00:14
3D File System Navigator for IRIX 4.0.1+ :
http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html (http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html)
As seen in "Jurassic Park"!

Port to BSD/Linux:
http://fsv.sourceforge.net/ (http://fsv.sourceforge.net/)
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: voidmain on 7 August 2002, 00:56
Hey, that's pretty cool.  I just downloaded/compiled/installed it (had to install gtk+-devel and gtkglarea RPMs first though).  I don't know how useful it really is but it's slick.
Title: Perfect UI
Post by: choasforages on 7 August 2002, 00:59
hahhaa, finally, i am complete, i have been looking for something like that for years. ever since i saw jurassic park. after seeing the sgi box's sitting there with the kid navagating a complex 3d ui./*yeah right*/ i think they should make it better and intergrate it into gnome 2.2