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From: Shark8 <onewingedshark@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: Writing an Operating System in Ada
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:07:42 -0800 (PST)
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On Jan 14, 12:04=A0pm, tmo...@acm.org wrote:
> > > Right, but in an OO system you would barely need PostScript. I doubt
> > > anybody would like to program in PostScript, so what is left? Poor as=
 a
> > > data carrier, unusable for humans. Doesn't it remind something? XML? =
(:-)=3D
> > )
>
> > Exactly. For visual data to the screen and printer it would make a
> > good unified format. We don't have to actually have people programming
> > in PostScript, just have [UI] objects know how to output it and
> > [display] objects know how to render it... which is EXACTLY the class
> > a PostScript printer falls into.
>
> =A0 The desktop on my computer rarely looks similar to a piece of paper o=
n
> my real desk. =A0I doubt Postscript is an equally good description langua=
ge
> for both. =A0Didn't the Next computer use Postscript? =A0And do current M=
acs?

That's incorrect, insofar as the hardware [your monitor] is concerned
your computer's desktop is EXACTLY like a piece of paper, or rather
multiple ones drawn and shown to you. For example VCR tapes run at 25
FPS, this is exactly the same as taking some twenty-five drawn frames
and showing them over one second.

PostScript is perfectly suitable for drawing such a frame. In fact, if
you program things as being based off of vectors and shadings
{something PS is GOOD at} then it's conceivable that your desktop
could be independent [some caveats on low-resolutions, obviously] of
resolution/color-depth keeping things relatively uniform. Just like
you can use a PS file to print a good-looking big poster and use the
same file to print an [equivalent] 8.5x11 poster/thumbnail.