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What iOS Can Learn from Unix

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Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#21

Post by jpinkerton88 »

kunai wrote: post #20
jpinkerton88 wrote: post #4

I would like to see this done well. However, with Apple trying to protect and cater to the "every-day user", I wonder if we will ever see something like this, because of the security implications that come with it.

It's a fallacy that the every-day user doesn't want or need a filesystem. They do need a filesystem and interoperable components. What they do NOT need is a hierarchical based filesystem that limits you to a directory trees. It's an organizational nightmare, and unless you've ever used git before it's a literal hell for the average user. Instead, a flat filesystem with smart names, tagging, and metadata is the way fo…

I agree. I was just trying to imagine what Apple's will do since they have been trying for years to eliminate the file system for the every-day user, even on OSX (iTunes, iPhoto, Notes, etc.)

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#22

Post by rgbrgb »

rcoh wrote: post #11
fournm wrote: post #9

From a user perspective, intents are more useful and cover almost everything they're talking about. Most people really don't want to think about the how, they just want to share something to Facebook somehow. Having a standard way to just hook the Facebook app for it is what they really need. It is a shame that we can't get more app functionality sharing in place, but really I don't know if we necessarily want to bri…

Intents are useful, but could be better. A standard way to hook into the Facebook app is fine for Facebook but what about when the space is more fragmented? Should app authors have to integrate with every document viewer or Mail App?

I think the document manager [1] covers this use-case rather well. Any app can register with the OS as being able to open a certain type of file. Then it's just a couple lines to show the user an "Open in..." prompt for a file. This is what Dropbox, Mail, and GDrive do and I think we're going to see a lot more of it in the future.

[1]: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/FileMa...

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#23

Post by masswerk »

I think that there's more to it than what's mentioned in the article: Todays mobile OSes (and iOS prominently) have been designed as consumer OSes. Now it is becoming apparent that mobile devices are eventually becoming a platform for work (well, "work" might be a bit exaggerated here) and targeted task-fullfilment too.

Time to rethink the mobile OS as a whole.

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#24

Post by rcoh »

masswerk wrote: post #23

I think that there's more to it than what's mentioned in the article: Todays mobile OSes (and iOS prominently) have been designed as consumer OSes. Now it is becoming apparent that mobile devices are eventually becoming a platform for work (well, "work" might be a bit exaggerated here) and targeted task-fullfilment too. Time to rethink the mobile OS as a whole.

Yes. The Ubuntu Phone / OS is a interesting byproduct of this idea.

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#25

Post by manojlds »

masswerk wrote: post #23

I think that there's more to it than what's mentioned in the article: Todays mobile OSes (and iOS prominently) have been designed as consumer OSes. Now it is becoming apparent that mobile devices are eventually becoming a platform for work (well, "work" might be a bit exaggerated here) and targeted task-fullfilment too. Time to rethink the mobile OS as a whole.

Android does this already. Windows 8 (RT) and Windows Phone do too. The article is only about iOS.

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#27

Post by jerf »

fournm wrote: post #9

From a user perspective, intents are more useful and cover almost everything they're talking about. Most people really don't want to think about the how, they just want to share something to Facebook somehow. Having a standard way to just hook the Facebook app for it is what they really need. It is a shame that we can't get more app functionality sharing in place, but really I don't know if we necessarily want to bri…

I am not an Android developer. Is it possible for an application to create a new Intent, and then have another application use it, or can they only be blessed by Google?

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#28

Post by masswerk »

manojlds wrote: post #25
masswerk wrote: post #23

I think that there's more to it than what's mentioned in the article: Todays mobile OSes (and iOS prominently) have been designed as consumer OSes. Now it is becoming apparent that mobile devices are eventually becoming a platform for work (well, "work" might be a bit exaggerated here) and targeted task-fullfilment too. Time to rethink the mobile OS as a whole.

Android does this already. Windows 8 (RT) and Windows Phone do too. The article is only about iOS.

Think of Mac OS Automator for mobile devices (let's name it "Task Composer"), letting you assemble whole workflows based on pipes. But this would potentially harm any AppStore interests, so this will never happen, not on any of the current platforms.

(Edit: This would also afford to expose system calls to the end user, being the end of consumer haven.)

Re: What iOS Can Learn from Unix

#30

Post by gwu78 »

How about we produce an enclosure that looks about as good as an iPhone or iPad (as some are already doing; hello Samsung). Inside we put cheap electronics, but with no barriers to what software can be run (hello Apple) and no barriers to inspecting each and every line of software code that will be running on our device that we own (hello, Apple). Finally, we install our own open source OS (say, UNIX). That UNIX might be so simple that we could, if desired, compile it ourselves from scratch. Maybe even the compiler itself. No better route to security, if there is such a thing.

If iOS is so great and there is demand, Apple can sell us a license to run it on our device. My guess is that few would pay for this. More likely, the market would demand a windowing GUI, not an entire OS (e.g., one borrowed from CMU, FreeBSD and NetBSD; hello again Apple). Could developers respond and deliver one?

UNIX can do lots of things well. And well enough. That's probably why iOS relies on UNIX and not some other OS. But iOS won't let you do all the things that UNIX will let you do.

Conclusion: iOS is inferior to other, more open, more traditional UNIX alternatives. Apple does make a nice windowing GUI. And some very nice enclosures. Each worth a price, no doubt. But UNIX, the code that does the important stuff, has always been free.

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