[lively-kernel] Couple of question on Lively

[Daniel Ingalls]

Hello Ram -

It's a good question, and here's the way I look at it...

As a start, Lively gives you access to all of HTML which, broadly speaking, includes, graphics, javascript and the web.  So this means that you should be able to do anything that involves accessing data and services on the web, and provide just about any visual interface to view it and control it.  The apps we have done include games, simulations, visualizations of server activity, access to and visualizations of databases, and leveraging such services as language translation, maps and the like.  As far as integrating and leveraging the content and services of the web, Lively would seem to be on an equal footing with any native application, modulo possible performance issues.

So the question that remains is access to local hardware features such as GPS, compass, temperature, battery  level, acceleration, sound input and output, camera, lamps, etc.  I expect to see companion apps that provide local host access to this data for exactly the purpose of enabling systems like Lively to provide the kind of functionality one seeks in native apps.  I'd appreciate hearing from others on this list regarding the current state of such facilities and their likely future.

I always envisioned the Lively Kernel as supporting app stores where you can download Lively apps that will run in any browser, and therefore on any smart phone, without being subject to various manufacturers' whims about how to manage the economics and capabilities of those apps and stores.  We still have a long way to go with Lively, but we do already have apps that run on every major browser and every major web pad and smart phone.  It is a focus of this year's Bachelor project at HPI to push forward in both portability of Lively apps in the mobile sphere and, we also hope, access to hardware features on a par with native apps.

If this does not answer your questions specifically, it should at least give you a point of view from which you can derive your own conclusions.

  - Dan
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On Nov 25, 2011, at 5:36 PM, Ram wrote:

> You guys are doing great work. I have a couple of questions though . Would Lively kernel be able to access the kernel level features on the hardware it is running on?
> I am guessing no (correct me if I am wrong). If not, then wouldn't it be a huge disadvantage to the type of applications that are being created on it?
> 
> I think this question had been asked before but it's been some time. So I'll ask again. What kind of environment do you think Lively will be used in? 
> Where do you think the future of Lively lies in? 
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