[topicmapmail] TM for Linux desktop

[Patrick Durusau]

Carlo,

Sounds like a great idea to me! (But then I am rather biased in terms of 
both Linux and TM.)

Has been discussed in the TM community but I don't think anyone has gone 
beyond simply discussing it.

Would prefer to avoid the most common XML Editor error, that is exposing 
too much of the mechanics to the users. Would you use Word if you had to 
see and manipulate the underlying markup? Not very likely.

In other words, yes, build on the topic maps paradigm in to handle the 
things that are not done well in todays interfaces, mention in the docs 
and press releases that a TM underlies the new capabilities, but provide 
user's with good interfaces that are useful, not that make TM developers 
look clever to get it to work at all.

Hope you are having a great day!

Patrick

Carlo Moneti wrote:
> To all,
> 
> Here's a thought--admittedly a bit off the cuff. This is in the context 
> of spreading topic map usage and, perhaps, greatly accelerating the 
> adoption of Linux as a desktop operating system.
> 
> Today Linux, MAC, and MS all use conventional menus for their desktop 
> environment (and applications). Suppose one or more of the Linux desktop 
> UI projects (gnome, KDE, Ximian, etc.) were convinced to create a topic 
> map navigation scheme for their UI; a newly installed application would 
> associate itself to the desktop menu/navigation system by adding some TM 
> fragments to the topic map.
> 
> With this foundation (plus general increased awareness of TM), 
> application developers might more readily begin to see how individual 
> applications could implement TM in their menu/navigation, and how 
> application data (where applicable) could be stored in a TM-friendly way 
> (i.e., generic datamodel, TM export).
> 
> Over the course of a few years, we might be able to see the holy grail 
> of application integration: a transformation from distinct "walled-in" 
> applications to seemless traversal from one functionality (or service) 
> to another, where the application window and backend data are easily 
> shared.
> 
> I sure would like to get your comments on this idea and it's viability.
> 
> Thanks,
> Carlo moneti
> http://arsteca.net
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-- 
Patrick Durusau
Director of Research and Development
Society of Biblical Literature
Patrick.Durusau@sbl-site.org
Chair, V1 - Text Processing: Office and Publishing Systems Interface
Co-Editor, ISO 13250, Topic Maps -- Reference Model

Topic Maps: Human, not artificial, intelligence at work!