I became aware of witme through libferris - I am attempting to design a computer operating environment that would encourage type-tagging of files, use of object metaphors at the command shell level, and provide datatypes sufficient to allow communication between objects and processes, including the command shell. My hopes for the project are to eliminate some of the text serializing/parsing intermediate steps common in piped command-line tools and to provide more direct control over data at the UI level.
My project is purely in the conceptual stages, and if you're interested in hearing about it I'd be happy to elaborate further. I already feel like I've bored the reader to tears with my description. :)
My interest in libferris is primarily in the fact that it attempts to satisfy one of the goals which I hope to satisfy - treating common file types as objects. I was particularly impressed with the fact that a lot of the datatypes I'd already considered as conceptual examples (MP3, Gimp, etc.) were already implemented in libferris. However, I've so far been able to find out little about the library from the documentation and source - is a distinction made within the file namespace between objects and file directories? Is the file "forking" (to slightly misuse outdated Mac terminology) performed according to the context in which a name is used?
I'd like to suggest that, should a few extra cycles afford themselves to making the documentation more newbie-friendly, that commonly-used terminology on the project page and documentation be defined, and that some of the modules be described in a sort of "what is this?" context. Anyway, thanks for the time.
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Last things first :) I have been writing up some info as a better intro and what is ferris type thing for a little while now, though I am looking to sell that to some mags in order to get exposure and improve my hardware situation :)
There is no distinction between files and objects, everything is a Context (or more specifically a fh_context) as far as the clients are concerned.
The Gimp module has some issues because I wrote it when I was less aware of how to control gimp pragmatically like perl-fu where the script is the controling force. I might update that module at some point.
A lot of the EA generators are image oriented, but there is support for A52, mp3 audio and good mpeg2 & dvd support.
I'd be interested in reading your cencepts for stuff, I am at the moment trawling the web for ideas, like the Semantic FileSystem from MIT and various other stuff. I was thinking of starting a mailing list where folks can post links to ps/pdf/html content and I'd link to them from ferris' site, sort of like creating a one stop shop for reading about 2 and 3d filesystems.
PS. Could we move to a mailing list, as I'd like to keep this talk public but would like to reply in my mail client.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi,
I became aware of witme through libferris - I am attempting to design a computer operating environment that would encourage type-tagging of files, use of object metaphors at the command shell level, and provide datatypes sufficient to allow communication between objects and processes, including the command shell. My hopes for the project are to eliminate some of the text serializing/parsing intermediate steps common in piped command-line tools and to provide more direct control over data at the UI level.
My project is purely in the conceptual stages, and if you're interested in hearing about it I'd be happy to elaborate further. I already feel like I've bored the reader to tears with my description. :)
My interest in libferris is primarily in the fact that it attempts to satisfy one of the goals which I hope to satisfy - treating common file types as objects. I was particularly impressed with the fact that a lot of the datatypes I'd already considered as conceptual examples (MP3, Gimp, etc.) were already implemented in libferris. However, I've so far been able to find out little about the library from the documentation and source - is a distinction made within the file namespace between objects and file directories? Is the file "forking" (to slightly misuse outdated Mac terminology) performed according to the context in which a name is used?
I'd like to suggest that, should a few extra cycles afford themselves to making the documentation more newbie-friendly, that commonly-used terminology on the project page and documentation be defined, and that some of the modules be described in a sort of "what is this?" context. Anyway, thanks for the time.
Last things first :) I have been writing up some info as a better intro and what is ferris type thing for a little while now, though I am looking to sell that to some mags in order to get exposure and improve my hardware situation :)
There is no distinction between files and objects, everything is a Context (or more specifically a fh_context) as far as the clients are concerned.
if you see one of the factory C++ Files
http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/witme/libferris/plugins/eagenerators/png/libpng_factory.cpp?rev=1.5&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup
The taging of context's with data (EA) is performed based on anything the code that does the tagging wants. If you see the factory for XFS for example, it always trys to tag the file and only does so if it can perform specific ioctl() type stuff for XFS partitions.
The Gimp module has some issues because I wrote it when I was less aware of how to control gimp pragmatically like perl-fu where the script is the controling force. I might update that module at some point.
A lot of the EA generators are image oriented, but there is support for A52, mp3 audio and good mpeg2 & dvd support.
I'd be interested in reading your cencepts for stuff, I am at the moment trawling the web for ideas, like the Semantic FileSystem from MIT and various other stuff. I was thinking of starting a mailing list where folks can post links to ps/pdf/html content and I'd link to them from ferris' site, sort of like creating a one stop shop for reading about 2 and 3d filesystems.
PS. Could we move to a mailing list, as I'd like to keep this talk public but would like to reply in my mail client.