[Desktop_architects] Summits at Desktop Developers Conference in Ottawa

[Zack Rusin]

On Friday 03 March 2006 18:21, you wrote:
> So the toolkits are going to provide API for all OpenGL capabilites,

Well, they do. You create an OpenGL widget and you render to it using 
OpenGL.

> as well as allowing me to interact with and alter the desktop-wide
> scene graph?  

For the sake of desktop - nothing will do that. In the same way you 
don't have access to window manager internals from your application 
right now you won't have access to window management from composition 
manager.

> Because as an application author, this is the kind of 
> control and power I want.  

This is the kind of control no one will give you. Giving control over 
full desktop composition to third party application is just a very, 
very bad idea (in the same way that letting third party applications 
override window manager and letting them manage themselves overridding 
all user preferences).

> I suspect the toolkits have not signed up to support this, though I
> would love to hear otherwise. 

Right. Toolkits are there to help creation of application. If you're 
looking into control of how your application is managed you need to 
change window manager/composition manager. This is the way it's been 
and this is the way it's going to be; anything else is just asking for 
trouble. 
What's going to happen is that composition managers will provide plugin 
architecture and as an ISV you'll be able to provide a plugin for them 
to change certain desktop-wide behavior. If you'd like to discuss what 
that plugin interface should be like then it's simply too early (the 
only one doing it right now is compiz).

Zack

-- 
Lady, just 'cause you're having a bad hair day doesn't mean you can
park in the handicap space.