Pain and Glory from the Trenches of the IT World

I was reading today about Pyro Desktop. As the Pyro homepage states: Pyro is a new kind of desktop environment for Linux built on Mozilla Firefox. Its goal is to enable true integration between the Web and modern desktop computing. By merging the Web with the desktop, Pyro offers the first big step toward a new future for the Web and the applications built for it.

This sort of desktop integration makes me feel uneasy. The first problem I see with it is that it’s unnecessary. Current web browsers work just fine as they are, for the most part. Some of them could be slimmed down somewhat, but ones like Opera and Konqueror function quite well. Konqueror, for instance, integrates well into the entire KDE desktop environment without being obtrusive.

The second problem I see is that it promotes bad habits. In fact, this second problem may be the most significant problems. Directly under the “Imagine…” line of the page, we see the following: Single programming environment for the whole desktop. Now that makes me feel very uneasy.

Time and time again the browser has been shown to be an inadequate application development platform. That hasn’t stopped various people, groups and companies from putting together rather complex Web-based software products. However, one common trend we find with such applications is that they pale in comparison to native desktop applications written in a language such as C++. Developing a reliable, quality Web-based application is often more time consuming than developing a similar application using C++, Visual Basic, or Java.

I haven’t been very impressed with most of the Web-based applications I’ve used so far. The native equivalents have essentially always been far more reliable, performant, and enjoyable to use. So the last thing I’d like to see is more Web-based apps, and fewer native apps. I’d much rather see it go the other way, with more apps written using languages like Python and Ruby, and making use of native GUI toolkits like GTK+ and Qt.

I don’t see myself using this sort of software. It seems more like a step backwards than a step forwards. The Web is best suited to a browser. The desktop should remain a place for native applications.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 21st, 2007 at 6:25 am and is filed under Firefox, Konqueror, Opera, Python, Ruby, Software, Web Sites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.