[vos-d] VOS making Moneys.

[Peter Amstutz]

I think what you're getting at is that we should take a broader view of 
what VOS could be -- and I agree.  The potential influence of VOS is 
similar in scope to that of the world wide web, and I'd like to make 
sure we get it right.

However, I'd also like to submit that interoperability is a key bridge 
that will enable people to cross over from the systems they are using 
now to our eventual VOS-based systems, so we need to consider the needs 
of existing platforms.  We also can't and shouldn't try to do 
everything, in particular so that we leave space for other people to be 
able to come in and experiment with their own ideas.

Conversely, it's also important to identify what existing systems are 
pretty good, and worth building on.  OS kernels (Linux) are pretty good.  
3D engines are pretty good.  Databases are okay (object databases seems 
to be a weak area).  GUIs are okay (we're in the midst of a slow 
paradigm shift away from raster graphics towards vector graphics).  
There are many many interesting programming languages on the fringe that 
are worth learning from.  Computer security is so awful it's definately 
worth looking at systems that ARE considered secure.

I don't know much about what investors want to hear, but a "boil the 
ocean" type of project to reinvent computing doesn't really seems like 
it brings enormous risk with it.  It's one thing if you are giving a 
grant to some fuzzy headed academics, but for VOS we're trying to 
straddle both computer science and practical software engineering.  
Hence the present focus on a relatively specific end product.

One thing I'm learning about presentation is that you need to have big 
ideas, but you also need a meticulous development plan to get there.  
The devil is in the details!

On Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 05:54:51PM -0600, S Mattison wrote:

> Ah, true. But what sets this apart from the other interactive 3d world
> softwares out there? "There are so many other communities, communities
> with names for themselves, why should I invest in VOS?" This is what
> the investors will say. "How does VOS stand apart from the crowd? What
> do I get in return? I'm not sure I fit in with a community of Linux
> Geeks." Well, unless you find a linux-oriented investor. I'm not
> saying it's impossible. I'm just saying that I have an idea that might
> make the idea a lot more appealing, and I know some people who can
> help set it up this way...
> 
> > That will get us to Step 2, which is to go for more significant investment
> > funds and build a company that can capitalize on the platform more
> > directly.  Then we sell VOS services far and wide, show up on the covers
> > of magazines, and hopefully make it to Step 3 :-)
> 
> So, you want to know my idea by now, and some of you may already have
> guessed... (Especially those who know me, or have payed attention to
> my previous rantings...)
> 
> I propose we take VOS, and recode its back-end architecture to run
> just a little bit closer to the hardware, and add a software-rendering
> option. Give it power over various filesystem commands by using simple
> filesystem descriptor "plugin-files". Give it the ability to access
> myriad protocols, to fill 3d objects with various online 1d and 2d
> content.
> 
> Give it, also, if you're still with me, the ability to intercept,
> interpret, and render the window and terminal functions that are
> called by normal ELF binaries and drivers, as though these programs
> were actually running inside VOS itself (perhaps with their own
> descriptors so as to eventually support binaries from other OSs!). And
> for the final step, give it it's own hardware drivers, and create
> bootloader entries that call this program into it's own kernel mode!
> 
> At that point, with these things: Specialized rendering, Filesystem
> access, Protocol access, and Parenting other processes, what need is
> there for any other Windowmanager? Since you can design your own
> interfaces within VOS, and create objects that, with a single click,
> hardlink/shortcut to open locations within protocols or filesystems,
> you don't need KDE, Gnome, or any other windowmanager. Since the
> descriptors are in place, there would be an open architecture to
> expand support for new filesystems, as well as child-binary emulation
> support, perhaps more advanced than WINE, since it aims at more than
> just Windows.

-- 
[   Peter Amstutz  ][ tetron at interreality.org ][ peter.amstutz at gdit.com ]
[Lead Programmer][Interreality Project][Virtual Reality for the Internet]
[ VOS: Next Generation Internet Communication][ http://interreality.org ]
[ http://interreality.org/~tetron ][ pgpkey:  pgpkeys.mit.edu  18C21DF7 ]

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