Re: [OT] Switching to Linux (was: Microsoft takes on ACT)

["chris.danx" <spamoff.danx@ntlworld.com>]

"Robert C. Leif" <rleif@rleif.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1022595242.12403.comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org...
> From: Bob Leif
> To: Michal Nowak et al.
>
> An XML based GUI that was powered by Ada including the use of protected
> types and tasking could be much easier to use than Windows. This XML GUI
> would also be much more reliable and efficient than Windows.

Can you provide some details of XML guis or your thoughts? (or are they a
secret, incase someone rips off your ideas?)  This has popped up once or
twice here in the past, but there hasn't been much debate or indeed provided
information on the marrying of XML and a GUI.


> Incidentally for normal mortals, I highly recommend EasyDesktop
> www.microseconds.com
> It employs a revolutionary GUI based on words. No icons. This makes it
> very easy to use for those of us who were educated with a Western
> alphabet.

it's a bit *different*, eh?


> As for the device drivers, writing them in Ada should facilitate their
> reuse in multiple similar products, such as graphics boards. Eventually
> XSL FOP could be part of the driver for both printers and graphics
> boards.

Some OS developers in aod have taken an interest in UDI, Ada might be a
perfect partner to this but since I don't know what UDI specifies in terms
of types (if anything) I can't say whether there would be a great benefit in
a mix of the two.

Depending on how things go this summer, I hope to have a small microkernel
(think L4 small) finally in development.  Nick Roberts (right second name?
apologies to Nick if it isn't) is also planning a microkernel and it'll be
interesting to contrast the designs; which can only improve each others
efforts  (although it will help to bare in mind that the projects aim to
meet different requirements, with each design reflecting this.  Obvious, but
better said than left to chance).


Chris