‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop

407 points · 545 comments · signa11

  1. potato-peeler · · focus · HN ↗
    What I found interesting is desktop ui hasn’t changed much from either a windows layout or Mac layout. Isn’t there any other ui which is as useful as those two? Is there no ongoing research on os ui?
    1. realusername · · focus · HN ↗
      They only superficially look similar but have nothing to do with Windows or MacOS on the feeling
      1. potato-peeler · · focus · HN ↗
        I am not talking about the UX, I am talking about the layout.
    2. nakedneuron · · focus · HN ↗
      no mention of Arcan yet, so I'll throw that in the ring..

      <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arcan-fe.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;arcan-fe.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;

      personally I think we need to shift from the &#x27;file location&#x27; paradigm to tagging (thinking xattr).. that will solve many problems with UI (also raise some for sure).

      1. iamcalledrob · · focus · HN ↗
        Something I learnt from doing research in this space is that spatial memory is quite powerful, and a hierarchical filesystem taps into that.

        Whereas tagging doesn&#x27;t align as naturally with the human brain in the same way.

        1. nakedneuron · · focus · HN ↗
          But episodic memory (the timeline so to speak) is powerful too. Consider &quot;list all pictures I watched in the last two days&quot;. Both are important. Combine it by saying &quot;distribute them on the screen from left to right sorted by how long I looked at it in ascending order&quot;.

          I think local AI would come in quite handy to tag files and keep the tagging consistent..

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.