If your operating system could do anything for you

[Darkelve]

Disclaimer: jokes are fine in this thread, but this is not a joke thread. I would like to avoid having 20 replies saying 'to cook my dinner'.

 

How do you use your computer? What functionality rules/sucks? What bothers you in the operating systems you use? If you could have your computer do anything for you, to do something or make it more efficient doing something, what would you wish for?

[Qchem]

Modern UNIX-like OS's pretty much do everything that I want them to do at the moment. I think my biggest feature request would have to be a metadata driven file system (somewhat like the ideas mentioned in the magnetic folders thread), where you wouldn't really need to care where you kept your files and quick searches (database driven) could help you pinpoint a file. Of course you could edit the metadata tags to make searching easy too.

[Darkelve]

Any comments about things concerning menus, window management, user switching, multitasking, multimedia capabilities, workflows, ... ?

 

Anything concrete that you thought "damn! This shouldn't be this hard!" or "If only I could do it THIS way"...

Edited August 23, 2006 by Darkelve

[SoulSe]

I would basically want it to take care of the things that are specific to some operating systems - kind of like the best of all worlds.

 

So my favourite OS is OSX - but I miss the flexibility of Linux and the ability to keep my entire system up to date with one centralised package manager, as well as the accessibility to open source. Then I also want it to be compatible with Windows' software as much as possible and have the support for gaming that Windows has.

 

So I basically want OS X + the best things about Linux + the only good thing about Windows (good support from the game developers).

[ianw1974]

To cook my dinner. Sorry couldn't resist it :P

 

Actually, I use it for pretty much everything on Linux. I only have two reasons for using Windows because I've not found a vpn client that I can use to initiate a PPTP connection to my fathers firewall. Although I can easily get around this using the IPSEC connection on my firewall if I so wish. So it leaves me with one other reason, which is video editing because I can't do it in Linux as there's no real easy way for it.

[tyme]

I wish my computer could read my brain waves so that when I come up with a musical idea (beat, chords, whatever) I don't have to figure out how the hell to make a program create the same series of sounds. And also so I don't have to remember it while I'm trying to get the program to do what I want - I always come up with ideas and in the process of trying to reproduce it I either completely forget it or end up doing something different and not liking it.

 

And I wish my computer could get me a date. And no, retarded dating sites don't count :P

[rohitsz]

Hello there,

 

A) Yeah, i'd love if my system took me straight to the login prompt after i press the power button to start the OS,like a television.

 

B ) Also a file system that keeps things intact in case of power failure. i had to reinstall mandriva due to a bad shutdown and e2fsck errors!

 

C) Wish there is more consistency among linux distro's...

 

edit :

B + ) == B) heh!

 

rohit.

Edited August 23, 2006 by rohitsz

[tyme]

B ) Also a file system that keeps things intact in case of power failure. i had to reinstall mandriva due to a bad shutdown and e2fsck errors!

get a UPS ;)

[arctic]

The magnetic folder-idea is one thing I'd appreciate. Another thing would be super-fast booting and shutdown (also mentioned before), an OS that allows my laptop to run one week on battery without a recharge (unrealistic, I know) and an OS that is 100% cross-compatible, so I'd be able to use applications for WIndows, Mac and Linux without emulators (also unrealistic).

 

Finally: an OS that has all the features and gadgets of Gnome and/or OSX and that runs well on a 486DX with 32 MB Ram while doing that! That would be a real shocker and I would finally know what I should do with my old-rotten computers in the storage-room. :P

[scoonma]

Yeah, the filesystem is an important point. It should be really stable for data. I don't care much about an fs being exploited for "desktop use" or database search function stuff. This is not what is was made for, and resembles of the annoying idea to use internet domain names for marketing purpose.

 

I only once stumbled over a really "rock-hard" filesystem, that would allow the following: Turn computer main power off immediately or crash during a writing process, but nearly no data loss(!), filesystem integrity preserved.

 

This thingy is SmartFilesSystem (SFS) for AmigaOS. But as it resides within GPL type world, porting should be possible somehow. At least there are some interesting ideas in it.

 

More info:

 

http://strohmayer.org/sfs/

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/smartfilesystem/

 

Greetings,

 

scoonma

[Gowator]

I'm pretty stuck....

I mean a little gadget on the corner that takes the shrink wrap off distro's would be useful sometimes?

 

B) not entirely a joke... Linux distro's are getting to the point where getting the shrink wrap off or the glue stuff on a magazine is the hardest part of installing the distro ....

 

Self cleaning DVD/CD drives? I dunno?

 

Most of what I would like is kinda already possible with $$$$ ...

Those that are not are largely interface driven...

 

For instance there is no reason my car can't have a WiFi transmittor and tell my calender/agenda that I need to refill the gas tomorrow or the oil change is due next week or an urgent email put through to the GPS ?? and even for safety reasons my car then offers to drive wile I read it... all of this is possible right now!

 

The question is would I really want this even if its zero cost?

 

How about setting up your PDA to use the computer remotely... again already possible.

 

Controlling the heating? Voice recognition? Done it... my brother can even do it via his mobile phone and swtich the pump on in his swimming pool .. cycle the lights etc.

 

tune a guitar? take messages?

 

I'm pretty much running outa stuff... its all possible with minor messing about ?

[Urza9814]

I've got a comment first about the filesystem thing, then I'll get back on topic.

I noticed Linux's file system gets screwy a lot if you shut down improperly...and it takes FOREVER to boot up...and I used to think 'why can't it be more like windoze' (at least win 9x) where it'd come up with the disc check but you just skip it and everything would be fine. But then I installed Freenet, and on Windoze if I have a bad shutdown (happens all the time with it crashing...) I would have to delete my identity file, my downloads file, my uploads file, and a buncha other crap to be able to use Frost again...so basically, I might as well have just re-installed. But on Linux...if I have a bad shutdown....I boot up and it's fine. Love that. hah

 

Ok, now back on topic.

Basically, I want a Linux that can run all my windoze apps and drivers decently, and install stuff easily! I'm sick of having to download ten .tar.gzs because the first nine won't install and I can't figure out why!

Edited August 24, 2006 by Urza9814

[scoonma]

Okay, here's some more concrete stuff:

 

1) Probably not related to other distributions, I found strange dependancies within the init scripts/services: Keytable is relying on netfs which is relying on portmap. Surely there are situations where this is essential (network boot,...), but for a "normal" desktop system? I don't need networking filesystems, and don't want to have a server answering RPC calls. So this is over-complex. I'd rather have a small, fast-booting system!

 

 

2) Colored data! This very fine principle is already implemented in "ls" (LS_COLORS). Why not integrate it in nautilus? Gnome-Commander is already able work in this way.

 

 

3) Many of us will have real 3D accelerated desktops in the future. By now, 3D stuff was mostly for gaming 'n stuff. But what can be done using this feature not only for wobbling windows? Think about a colored 3D representation of your machine, kernel in the middle, ROM and hardware stuff on a level below, RAM on a level above. Hard drive data could be grouped around the kernel in a circle, segmented to drivers, libraries, scripts, sourcecode, binaries,...

 

Lust for a flight inside?

 

Let's put the fun back into computing! ;-)

[Urza9814]

I don't think 3D will ever really be useful on a desktop system as we know it. Our displays are 2D, therefore the most efficient way to display information is in 2D. It's quite a pain to work in 3D on a computer...I'd hate to have to do it every time I boot up. You'd need a true 3D display and 3D input devices for that to really work.

[Darkelve]

I think he meant '3D simulation' though... like the rotating cubes in XGL... which are probably very handy for a lot of people.

 

I don't think 3D will ever really be useful on a desktop system as we know it. Our displays are 2D, therefore the most efficient way to display information is in 2D. It's quite a pain to work in 3D on a computer...I'd hate to have to do it every time I boot up. You'd need a true 3D display and 3D input devices for that to really work.