It would be cool if I could customize my desktop specifically for the task I'm working on. If I'm working on a project... I want all the files I need, as well as any images/diagrams and notes to be glued to my desktop so I can get at them quickly and easily.
Here is a mock up I created in Gimp. Anyone have thoughts or ideas? I'm interested in hearing opinions :)
NOTE: Click on the image for full-size
5 comments:
I should have explained a bit more...
There is a place for your project's notes. You can draw on the desktop or drop pictures there and they will stay where you put them. You can place folders/files with or without organization. I "todo"/list widget is also depicted.
You can have one of these "Desktop Area" for each project you are working on. You can easily switch between them depending on what you are working on at the moment. Need to stop working on your project and do something else? No problem! Just close the Desktop Area and re-open it later, everything will be exactly where you left it!
Optionally, maybe you could even pin it to a specific virtual desktop.
Another thought..
Most of the functionality I'm thinking about is already implemented. But it is scattered.
Nautilus already allows you to have files on your desktop.
Screenlets provide a wealth of widgetry for things like Notes, Lists, calculators, etc.
If only Nautilus had the following three features...
1) "Pin" programs to the desktop. Then I could open up the images, widgets and notes I need and simply pin them where I want them!
2) Separate virtual desktops. So I can set a customize wallpaper and set of pinned applications on one desktop without affecting the rest.
3) Ability to (quickly) save & restore a desktop's configuration (wallpaper and pinned apps).
I'm thinking that would get me what I'm envisioning without reinventing too many wheels. It would also provide a bunch of features that are useful all on their own. It could also be interesting to see what others would do with these kinds of features in Nautilus.
Maybe it would be a good idea to check out the Zeitgeist project and the Gnome Shell project (http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell). They might be quite useful to a project that deals with your ideas.
Matjaž,
Maybe it would be a good idea to investigate Gnome Shell a bit more :) I've played with it in the past and I was intrigued but it was not stable and was missing lots of functionality at that time.
I wonder if Nautilus will be used within Gnome Shell or if it will be replaced? I can't imagine they are going to throw away Nautilus.. at least not immediately...
Virtual Machine Appliances, especially Linux-based ones, should be lightweight enough to do this effectively.
KVM or Linux containers with a file server mount, like we did in Rapid Recovery System in advanced OS.
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