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General question: Is there an actual use for this kinds of projects, beyond showing what can be done? I have seen many different "web desktop" projects and whil

General question: Is there an actual use for this kinds of projects, beyond showing what can be done? I have seen many different "web desktop" projects and while most of them were impressive in their own (technical) ways, I could never see the an actual use case for them.

calini 3y ago
My Synology NAS uses something like this for its navigation and even if it's initially strange, you instantly miss it when you access it from your phone, when the UI turns into this nested list which is not intuitive at all
- bokchoi 3y ago
  I also like the Synology UI. It is helpful to see multiple apps at the same time and is especially useful when moving files around to have two or more file browser windows open.
  - yencabulator 3y ago
    > It is helpful to see multiple apps at the same time Without their desktop thing, this would just be "open link in new tab" for the apps you want open at the same time. Spatial file navigation & manipulation might be the one reasonable reason for the fake desktop.
- oaiey 3y ago
  I personally hate this from Synology. While their apps are meaningful structured and look good, it is just a natural mismatch to put sub windows into a parent window. Anyone remembering multi sub window apps in the Microsoft office suite in the 90s/00s. Was also horrible without a browser/html involved. This is definitely a taste thing
  - teddyh 3y ago
    > Anyone remembering multi sub window apps in the Microsoft office suite in the 90s/00s It was called MDI: <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multiple-document_interface&oldid=1121579532 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multiple-document...>
    - Propelloni 3y ago
      Yes, and from day one Opera (when it was still called Multitorg) used it to give us something like "tabbed browsing". I think that was in the mid-1990s ;)
  - ptx 3y ago
    StarOffice (precursor to LibreOffice) used to take this one step further and replicated the taskbar and start menu inside the application window: https://winworldpc.com/product/staroffice/5x https://winworldpc.com/product/staroffice/5x
  - wpietri 3y ago
    Yeah, same. I have a synology NAS and the desktop-of-windows-in-a-window aspect of it just seems archaic to me. I have a browser with tabs, thanks. If I really need two things going, I'll open two tabs or two browser windows.
BanazirGalbasi 3y ago
Personally I can see myself using this to access my homelab from work without having to open extra ports. Since I can't install a personal VPN client on my work machine, a web-based desktop behind a login would give me most of what I want.
- akho 3y ago
  Why not guacamole or smth
  - Datagenerator 3y ago
    Or have a real desktop without coding? [1] https://github.com/lrvl/debian-i3-novnc-docker https://github.com/lrvl/debian-i3-novnc-docker
  - BanazirGalbasi 3y ago
    Guacamole was actually my first choice and it's what I used a year ago. In that time span I've screwed up enough that my lab actually needs a whole rebuild, so I'm looking at alternatives to see what could be swapped over. As it is, I think Guacamole remains my first choice. I was just responding to the question of what this could be used for.
fallat 3y ago
We talk about have consistent desktop experience everywhere. This provides exactly that. Your desktop is everywhere you go. What sucks is, you need a whole browser for it. What sucks is, I think that's the only way to do it. A full on VM to make it real. I would use this if the browser stack had more promise of not changing for 50 years and not owned by Google. Unfortunately our last place of freedom is native execution.
rchaud 3y ago
I'd use this to store files on an encrypted Digital Ocean droplet, better than fiddling around with Nextcloud. I treat cloud storage as a USB stick; file management is 100% manual, no sync.
DustinBrett 3y ago
As someone who has spent years working on one of these, that is a very interesting question. I do it as a passion/side project so it's not as important to me, but I also like to think of it like the "Field of Dreams" philosophy of "If You Build It, They Will Come". I hope one day if I add enough features and interconnect enough things, the applicability will show itself.

calini 3y ago

My Synology NAS uses something like this for its navigation and even if it's initially strange, you instantly miss it when you access it from your phone, when the UI turns into this nested list which is not intuitive at all

bokchoi 3y ago
I also like the Synology UI. It is helpful to see multiple apps at the same time and is especially useful when moving files around to have two or more file browser windows open.
- yencabulator 3y ago
  > It is helpful to see multiple apps at the same time Without their desktop thing, this would just be "open link in new tab" for the apps you want open at the same time. Spatial file navigation & manipulation might be the one reasonable reason for the fake desktop.
oaiey 3y ago
I personally hate this from Synology. While their apps are meaningful structured and look good, it is just a natural mismatch to put sub windows into a parent window. Anyone remembering multi sub window apps in the Microsoft office suite in the 90s/00s. Was also horrible without a browser/html involved. This is definitely a taste thing
- teddyh 3y ago
  > Anyone remembering multi sub window apps in the Microsoft office suite in the 90s/00s It was called MDI: <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multiple-document_interface&oldid=1121579532 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multiple-document...>
  - Propelloni 3y ago
    Yes, and from day one Opera (when it was still called Multitorg) used it to give us something like "tabbed browsing". I think that was in the mid-1990s ;)
- ptx 3y ago
  StarOffice (precursor to LibreOffice) used to take this one step further and replicated the taskbar and start menu inside the application window: https://winworldpc.com/product/staroffice/5x https://winworldpc.com/product/staroffice/5x
- wpietri 3y ago
  Yeah, same. I have a synology NAS and the desktop-of-windows-in-a-window aspect of it just seems archaic to me. I have a browser with tabs, thanks. If I really need two things going, I'll open two tabs or two browser windows.

BanazirGalbasi 3y ago

Personally I can see myself using this to access my homelab from work without having to open extra ports. Since I can't install a personal VPN client on my work machine, a web-based desktop behind a login would give me most of what I want.

akho 3y ago
Why not guacamole or smth
- Datagenerator 3y ago
  Or have a real desktop without coding? [1] https://github.com/lrvl/debian-i3-novnc-docker https://github.com/lrvl/debian-i3-novnc-docker
- BanazirGalbasi 3y ago
  Guacamole was actually my first choice and it's what I used a year ago. In that time span I've screwed up enough that my lab actually needs a whole rebuild, so I'm looking at alternatives to see what could be swapped over. As it is, I think Guacamole remains my first choice. I was just responding to the question of what this could be used for.

fallat 3y ago

We talk about have consistent desktop experience everywhere. This provides exactly that. Your desktop is everywhere you go. What sucks is, you need a whole browser for it. What sucks is, I think that's the only way to do it. A full on VM to make it real. I would use this if the browser stack had more promise of not changing for 50 years and not owned by Google. Unfortunately our last place of freedom is native execution.

rchaud 3y ago

I'd use this to store files on an encrypted Digital Ocean droplet, better than fiddling around with Nextcloud. I treat cloud storage as a USB stick; file management is 100% manual, no sync.

DustinBrett 3y ago

As someone who has spent years working on one of these, that is a very interesting question. I do it as a passion/side project so it's not as important to me, but I also like to think of it like the "Field of Dreams" philosophy of "If You Build It, They Will Come". I hope one day if I add enough features and interconnect enough things, the applicability will show itself.