Re: Desktop Multitasking

[bazyar@teal.csn.org (Jawaid Bazyar)]

ga56292@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kyle Weegs) writes:

>As I understand it, GNO will multitask one desktop app. with however many shell
>processes.  With Swith-It! running under GNO, I suppose the current desktop app.
>is multitasked with the shell processes, while the other desktop apps. are
>suspended.
> 
>If a desktop program does all of its stuff as multitasked processes under the
>GNO kernel and only uses the desktop part for user I/O, can it continue to do
>whatever it does after another desktop app. is selected in SwitchIt! ?
>(maybe even switch to the GNO shell, while the meat of several desktop apps.
>is running in the background)
  
>What I mean to ask is: is this a feasible method of having truly multitasked
>desktop programs, or am I completely off the mark?

  You are entirely correct.  This is in fact how the GSI NDA (Graphical
Shell Interface NDA) works.  We'd like to get folks writing this kind of
software for GNO; it's easy, and you can do it now, but there are user-
interface issues to hash out.  Basically, these kinds of programs need
to follow a paradigm of some kind (I don't personally care for the Multifinder
paradigm - I use it at work, and the stupid Mac screens just aren't big
enough! :-)  I'm cross-posting this to csa2.gno; let's start discussing
the use of in-window menubars for these types of applications, as well as
other user-interface options.

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