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X GUI Operating Systems Software Unix

Metisse - New Looking Glass Alternative 299

Interested in a 3D desktop? zoso submitted news about about a project called Metisse, writing "There is working and freely available alternative to the (soon to be released under GPL) Sun Looking Glass 3D desktop ( Slashdot story here) If you have spare CPU/GPU cycles just go download and compile the first publicly available version of this X Desktop. Everything looks nice (screenshots here), has OpenGL support, transparency and all other whistles...."
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Metisse - New Looking Glass Alternative

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:23PM (#9566032)
    It is in case your monitor is not actually lined up with your chair, now you can just twist the picture.
  • by chickenwing ( 28429 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:24PM (#9566040) Homepage
    ask yourself, "What problem does this solve?"
  • by Swe3tDave ( 246955 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:26PM (#9566050)
    Where are the 3D Apps? Why 3D desktop always have to be like 2D desktop, except for some 3D change..

    Its not a evolution..

    I'll stick with the command line.. ;)
  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:26PM (#9566055)

    why is it programmers have absolutely no idea about GUI design ?, why not speak to graphic designers or IA, a little intuition could go a long way, but as long as the desktop looks like something out of 1980's no amount of 3D or alpha blending will make it look good
    you never could polish a turd

  • You know... (Score:3, Funny)

    by mrbarkeeper ( 560018 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:27PM (#9566065)
    If you have spare CPU/GPU cycles...

    Right now these folks would prefer a spare webserver and some bandwidth. :-)

  • by HorsePunchKid ( 306850 ) <sns@severinghaus.org> on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:29PM (#9566077) Homepage
    has OpenGL support, transparency and all other whistles

    I'm all for whistles, don't get me wrong [severinghaus.org], but without the bells, I'm just not convinced.

  • by daeley ( 126313 ) * on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:32PM (#9566106) Homepage
    1) If you are standing to one side of your monitor, it would appear perfectly straight.

    2) Writing code in a microgravity environment, you would need your windows to match your attitude relative the monitor.

    3) Twisted? At least it's not doing the hokey-pokey.

    4) Or *is* it?

    5) If your document were Medusa, you would not want to look directly at it.

    6) If you combine two sideways documents and a Clippy, you can make an airplane and fly it around your desktop.

    7) 2D is teh L4M3.

    8) You get more points per kill because it's harder to shoot them.

    9) Extreme coding challengers are bored and want new horizons.

    10) Anybody can type in a straight line.
  • by stripyd ( 614714 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:33PM (#9566122)
    The 'no attractive people in the coffee shop ever lean over and say "hey, that's nice what is it?"' problem twm users invariably suffer
  • by cjsnell ( 5825 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:39PM (#9566163) Journal
    Famous last words:

    "Screenshots here."
  • Re:Metisse (Score:5, Funny)

    by taviso ( 566920 ) * on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:42PM (#9566190) Homepage
    First Upside-Down [gentoo.org] Post!
  • by Atmchicago ( 555403 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:52PM (#9566258)

    Yes, but have you seen the *gasp* 3d command line? ;-)

  • by nizo ( 81281 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @07:55PM (#9566273) Homepage Journal
    Especially the time-travel kernel module in FreeBSD.

    This module is the reason why I have yet to install FreeBSD on any of my machines, since I can install FreeBSD anytime before I die and go back in time to make sure I never wasted any time installing Linux.

  • by McCall ( 212035 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @08:00PM (#9566311) Homepage
    "I know this, this is UNIX!"
  • by Kozar_The_Malignant ( 738483 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @08:09PM (#9566368)

    >What problem does this solve?

    Your desktop is insufficiently cool.
  • by tabrnaker ( 741668 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @08:30PM (#9566505)
    Only if it's an idiotic action! :)
  • by justforaday ( 560408 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @08:34PM (#9566535)
    We need a 3d input device, perhaps like the ones used in Minority report?

    Will this [retrogoodness.com] do?
  • by Wylfing ( 144940 ) <brian@NOsPAm.wylfing.net> on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @08:41PM (#9566570) Homepage Journal
    This kind of thing only facilitates using more than one window at a time, the only purpose of which is unauthorized copying. Let's shut down this piracy tool before our economy is destroyed.

  • by mattkinabrewmindspri ( 538862 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @09:04PM (#9566709)
    I would like Apple to add peeling to the next version of OS X.
  • by Mr. Cancelled ( 572486 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @09:19PM (#9566815)
    Why throw a ton of people into quickly improving an emerging new technology when we can split all those people up into smaller teams to try & develop the same thing from several different angles.

    Thus rather than continually improving upon potential "killer apps" (not that I'm saying Looking Glass is such an app), we can all slowly develop slightly different versions of the same thing, all the while ensuring that cross-compatability doesn't exist.

    Oh! And don't forget the reunion party in 2 years when we all get drunk and lament the fact that products from the likes of Microsoft stole the fire that should have been ours. Even though our solution was technically superior to Microsofts.

    Ok... Maybe I do sound a bit jaded, but it sure does seem that as soon as a killer new technology or application comes on the market, we suddenly have a ton of applications being produced trying to replicate the performance of that technology, rather than either building upon the strengths of it, or developing a totally different, non-copycat alternative. Wassup with that?

    ...End Rant...
  • by Black Art ( 3335 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @09:22PM (#9566842)
    As always, Invader Zim has the answer:

    Invader Zim: Why would you convert your entire planet into a spaceship?

    Projected head: Because it was COOL!
  • Re:Metisse (Score:5, Funny)

    by Speare ( 84249 ) on Tuesday June 29, 2004 @11:05PM (#9567474) Homepage Journal
    I think this qualifies: umop ap!sdn
  • what I want (Score:2, Funny)

    by zogger ( 617870 ) on Wednesday June 30, 2004 @12:59AM (#9568156) Homepage Journal
    is a desktop window manager that mimics how MY desktop works, so I can feel comfortable, at home, and productive. I mean, they call these things files and folders, and it's called a desktop,and you have "tools" and whatnot, right? So how come they never LOOK or ACT like any *real* desktop?

    Here is an example...uhh... this would be.. ummm, well, it's just an example.. *mine*

    Random crap just appears, then the next day it's gone. You never owned it, it ain't yours, you don't know what it is,and it's usually scary looking anyway so you don't care when it goes away again.

    You lay something down, go to the kitchen, come back, and the real important "thing" you just were working on has now morphed into last months bank statement, which now has a phone number on it with no name attached, but a date next to it underlined TWICE.

    Odd random fires occur.

    You notice that the old candy dish you throw your keys and change and junk in now has a birds nest with 5 little peepers all looking for some food. They get the last of your chips from the bottom drawer. For a moment you think about asking the dog how the birds got there, because he's the only one that would really know. Then you realise he'll just tell you what you want to hear anyway, so you forget about it.

    You go to reach over to your small tools area to work on some hardware, and find that compound reverse dado titanium layered over fine ceramic skill saw blade you bought last year.

    There are many odd Cds with no labels leaning up against the lamp base,all very important, but you have to use your magic 8 ball to see if you should try them out or not, because at least one of them you remember has hack_orifice_of_doom_2000 on it.

    You try to make a post-it note and find 6 empty card board packages that pens and pencils came in, but not a single pen or pencil to be found. The cardboard boxes though you KNOW you can make something cool out of, so you lean them on the random cds pile leaning on the lamp base. That takes up the space that your duct and electrical tape is now using, so you put the electrical tape in your pocket and chunk the duct tape under the desk.

    The point was moot anyway, because you don't HAVE any post-it notes.

    You go to change out some RAM, and not finding a handy mylar bag, you take that old chip bag in the bottom drawer, that is now REALLY empty, turn it inside out, and put the ram sticks you will never use again EVAR into the bag and back into the drawer, for future archaeologists.

    You go to print something, and you MUST decide,for paper, do you use the backs of the distro something 3.2RC1 HOWTOS you printed out four years ago, or do you use the backs of your girlfriends letters she's written but hasn't mailed off yet... hmmm.. hmmmm

    Now, someone builds a computer version of an ergonomic actual human being uses-it desktop like that, call it "3D", I'll take a gander at it.

"More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined." -- Fred Brooks, Jr., _The Mythical Man Month_

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