OT: Re: [plug] [link] Xnest

[Russell Steicke]

On Wed, Sep 18, 2002 at 03:08:40PM +0800, Leon Brooks wrote:
> The only way to set up desktops for people:
> 
>     http://plug.linux.org.au/~leonb/xnest-fluxbox.jpg (210k) or
> 
>     http://plug.linux.org.au/~leonb/xnest-fluxbox.png (490k)
> 
> The Xnest window is being managed by FluxBox inside a KDE-managed screen.

For an example of this sort of thing taken to its extreme, I recommend
reading the paper about "8 1/2", the window system of Plan9 (later OS
from Bell Labs), in postscript at

  http://www.fywss.com/plan9/plan9doc/

There are some really neat ideas in there, including per-process
namespaces (part of plan9, not 8.5) and automatic display
multiplexing.  ie you can nest 8.5 inside itself just by starting
another one in a window, rather than running a special server like
Xnest.  This is possible partly because the device files for the
display are per-process, so the second instance sees it's outer window
as the whole display.  It also takes the "everything is a file" idea
much further than any unix ever did.

Actually, I think that all the plan9 papers are worth reading for the
enlightenment value alone.


PS I realise that these sorts of things can't be sold to clients who
are still struggling to get their heads around a fairly conventional
-- and conventional looking -- unix clone. :)