firefox as an operating system

[mike_hillman]

The graphic subsystem Cairo can use mini glx that only creates a
window and loads the graphics driver for the specific graphics card.
Using opengl for Firefox's native output would also create the
opportunity for canvas to be used to create 3d web applications more
seamlessly and would also enable the ability for other web standards
like java script to create their own 3d web apis. This would also
give the ability for Firefox to be ran from the command line but the
concept would also work just fine with other operating systems that
have full window systems.
.The more interesting version of Firefox would be using it as a
terminal and having the command line ran in the the web browser as a
form using multipart mime messages. Apache would be used to create an
instance of a shell using bash and keep the shell running by using
chunked transfer encoding mime messages. Cairo would still be used as the graphics
subsystem and would use opengl but it would use fbgl to output
graphics and would just use screen and the different windows would
tabs created by the browser. The key board would be a serial device in
Linux instead of the terminal.

I posted this else where groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.platform/browse_thread/thread/0fecf2e3641f9edd#]firefox as an operating system - mozilla.dev.platform | Google Groups

[KenJackson]

That's quite a proposal.
But what's the goal?

BTW, are you aware of XUL, Mozilla's XML-based language that lets you build feature-rich cross platform applications?
Also see the article The Joy of XUL.

[mike_hillman]

Using a web browser as an operating system would benefit application developers by allowing them to rely on web standards for their application models instead of using non compatible desktop application models that every operating system has. Instead the user would use web applications on their own computer or some remote web server. Having web applications running on thier own computer would be beneficial by allowing the user to access multiple remote web applications with one application and would allow the user to store information in to databases. Web applications are better designed to work across the web with other web applications than desktop applications. With web applications becoming more common than desktop applications it would be quit interesting to see an operating system that does just that. Most of the applications designed for Linux are usually web applications anyways. The other part of the operating system would be Apache mysql php perl python or any other scripting language.. The web browser would be the interface to the web server each having their own login systems. The web applications would relay on using Linux getpassword and getusername to login and so would the web browser.

[mike_hillman]

Its not fbgl the opengl system that i meant it was glfbdev I don't know what widget system can be used for it but it would probably be better to use one that is written in opengl. glfbdev and minglx can be found at mesa.org.
Firefox as an operating system would just be like crome os but would be geared towards 3d web applications and providing more applications on the users computer and not just the web.
Google apps and windows live would work great with an operating system that just relied on web applications. Post more links to other web applications that would replace desktop applications.
It would also be great to here if there were any open source cloud applications. With Linux being used more for web applications it would be nice if there was a version designed for that reason. There should be a version of Linux called Cloud os.

[KenJackson]

Firefox as an operating system ...

Some of us are quite sceptical about this concept, including Chrome OS.

You see, back before 1981, most serious computing was done at a terminal connected to a hulking mainframe. Sometimes the connection was by modem over a telephone line.

Then along came the IBM PC that let the genie out of the bottle for individual control of one's computing platform. IBM didn't expect to sell very many PCs. And they didn't expect it to impact their hulking giant mainframe business. But it turned out that people loved the control that the PC gave them, even if its capabilities were inferior to what they could do on a mainframe.

So now some think we are swinging full circle and are going to compute remotely on hulking giants again--the cloud this time.

I think cloud computing and Chome OS and this Firefox OS, if you should succeed, are all a niche market that won't enthral the masses.

[mike_hillman]

This version is different than what chromes os is. The web server is on your own computer as well not just on a remote web server. Its about abandoning desktop applications for an operating system that supports just web applications. I would rather see applications based on web standards so they would be usable on all operating systems. This would require users to install some version of LAMP. Its firefox os and apache os.

[KenJackson]

I would rather see applications based on web standards so they would be usable on all operating systems.

Oh. I didn't understand that the web server would actually be on the local PC.

But that approach seems to be attempting to solve the same problem that Java tried to solve a decade or more ago. Code it once and run it anywhere, of so the mantra went.

I've only begun looking at Mozilla's XUL technology, but it might almost be what you are after. You write a stand-alone application in XML and CSS and let Mozilla's Firefox engine display it.

Even Microsoft's .NET hype bears some similarity (though one wonders why the chief proponent of proprietary OSes would push OS-independence).

[mike_hillman]

The difference between java and .net and web server applications is that many people already use the scripting languages its not introducing a new way to develop something. Its introducing a new way to use something that is already common.
Replacing the terminal with a web browser would update the interface of the computer so every application would have to be what the web browser can support. What is the point of having a terminal if no one uses the mainframe anymore. The terminal mainframe models are being replaced by the web server web browser model. It would be helpful for people to be able to access there own computer like they would do a web server other than one that someone else has control over.

[DaGoomba]

In a way, I can agree with KenJackson that the idea probably won't take hold. But at the same time, I can see the benefits of your idea. It would almost be like a mix of Windows 7 and XP in the fact that Firefox is an incredibly stable browser on it's own (XP) and because the OS is the internet it would automatically find the drivers to support different programs (7).

I can't really say a whole lot more since the idea is only theoretical at the moment but good luck anyway.

[mike_hillman]

It would be nice for the operating system to work with the internet instead of separate like desktops do and not completely relay on them like chrome os does. The ability to have web server applications on your own computer to work with the internet to stay in sync with the information you store in theses different locations especially if you have lots of different files and you don't want to loose them or if you decide to use other web applications. Having a web server on your own computer would also give website owners to create more complex and demanding websites for their users by allowing the user to run some of the code on their own computer.

I think the usefulness of web browser web server operating systems depends on how the user uses their own computer if they prefer web applications or desktop applications. Windows will always use desktop applications and people will always prefer to use that as the desktop. Linux users may prefer web applications more though but it will probably be Linux's best chance to compete with windows in this way because the web application technology is more common on Linux.