A few suggestions/concerns

[Mark Kollasch]

This project looks interesting. As you asked for feedback, I will
provide some in the form of a few features often overlooked in the
development of web-centric user interface concepts.

First, is there a plan for allowing Webian to support multiple
displays? I didn't notice any mention of this particular
functionality, and making it behave consistently across platforms is
important.

Second, would it be possible in a finished version, at least on Linux
and OSX, to allow user access to a terminal from within the shell if
necessary? Completely forgoing the underlying hardware is the ideal,
but in practice making it possible to open the proverbial hood in a
quick and unobtrusive manner could significantly ease the transition
and allow surprising combinations of web-based and local functionality
while sidestepping the broader question of conflict between GUIs.

Third, in the universe where time and resources are unlimited, I think
it would be valuable for Webian to include at least the option for
some sort of efficient mouseless browsing solution. While the project
is clearly directed towards more pointer-oriented devices like
desktops and tablets, some fast variant on hit-a-hint can make the
browsing experience far more comfortable on a laptop.

Just a few random thoughts. Very much looking forward to seeing where
this goes.

[Ben Francis]

Hi Mark,

Sorry for taking an exceptionally long time to get back to you. 

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 2:09 AM, Mark Kollasch <ma...@frontal-lobe.net> wrote:

First, is there a plan for allowing Webian to support multiple
displays?

This has been suggested before https://github.com/webianproject/shell/issues/54 and I think it's a nice feature to have, I personally use dual screen on my desktop PC and find it very useful.

 

Second, would it be possible in a finished version, at least on Linux
and OSX, to allow user access to a terminal from within the shell if
necessary?

Generally speaking I would say no to any non-web functionality, but maybe there should be an exception for a command line shell. I hope that eventually Webian Shell can come to accept more natural language commands via the "omnibar" (https://github.com/webianproject/shell/issues/26), but in the mean time access to the shell is certainly useful for power users. Another alternative might be a web app implementation of a bash shell, either a local shell or an SSH client (https://github.com/webianproject/shell/issues/120).

 

I think
it would be valuable for Webian to include at least the option for
some sort of efficient mouseless browsing solution.

Again I'd like to make use of natural language text-based commands for browsing, similar to Mozilla Labs' Ubiquity experiment (https://mozillalabs.com/ubiquity) but I haven't put a lot of thought into this. Do you have any particular suggestions?

 

Thanks for the feedback

Ben 

--
Ben Francis
http://tola.me.uk