Devil's Advocate, waqs: (prior item was untitled)

[R P Herrold]

> However, I also can see, in the future, a "try Fedora 
> desktop in the cloud" web page, with an big shiny launch 
> button and automatic connection via noVNC. Here, there's 
> plenty of sense in making it look as much like the desktop 
> spin as possible, as that's the point.

Let me play Devil's Advocate for a bit ...

MVC was invented for a reason -- to let the display head be 
close to the human content producer and consumer, to let the 
application logic live in a DC in between, and protect the 
durable store behind that yet further.

Using both etherpad and then, obby as collaborative meeting 
notes solutions, really highlighted the costs, and the 
benefits, respectively, of getting it 'wrong' and 'right'. 
Etherpad uses Javascript locally to do remote editting; obby 
displays locally, and sends small diffs across the wire to 
edit a single common master, and to back receive updates of 
such.  Huge difference in usability

Just because one CAN do something does not mean one SHOULD do 
something; A desktop should be, well, at the desktop in the 
usual case.  Most of the sysadmins here remember the pain of 
PC-Anywhere, or VNC over limited bandwidth links.  Handing out 
a poor experience is not a win

Fat bandwidth (and of course, Jedi mind tricks) can paper 
over the problem to some extent, but, at the end of the day, 
one will be fighting with getting sound working natively 
rather than through some flash layer or such (Adobe's 
collaborative meeting solution), and 'near real time, no 
latency' stuff will still give you fits and support load.

'Near real time, no latency' describes a Desktop, I think

In either event, the Agile development principle of solving 
the closest problem and leaving the future to become less 
misty and for another day, is probably a good one to be guided 
by

[I know you are acting as an architect, but this feels like an 
implementation detail -- get back into your drafting room, 
Frank Lloyd ;) ]

Have a great weekend

-- Russ herrold