Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Here you can discuss ReactOS related topics.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Artlav
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:53 pm
Location: Moscow

Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Artlav »

Now, ReactOS is all about internal systems of Windows being re-created , thus providing the base for all the same "on screen" stuff that Windows have, so what is the point of posting screenshots of ReactOS?

Instead, what about some sort of internalshot - a picture generated out of all the sources projected somehow in 2D.
Like CPU designers do - they don't show screenshots of things that run on their new Pentium HZ, they put a picture of it's die.

An image like code chart - control or data trace extracted from the sources by a simple script, groups of structure for subsystems linked in some weird pattern.
Such image will reflect the development much better than on screen stuff images.
Z98
Release Engineer
Posts: 3379
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 8:16 pm
Contact:

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Z98 »

And have you considered how exactly one is to generate such a diagram? Or whether the average person would even understand it? And I'm not aware of any other operating system trying to promote itself in such a way. They all use screenshots to show what can be done with the OS, not what it's made up of.
Artlav
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:53 pm
Location: Moscow

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Artlav »

Why should average person understand it?
All he need to understand is that the amount of structure in a specific subsystem have increased.

And the very fact that no OS promotes itself that way could make this kind of promotion useful.
SdC
Posts: 190
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:52 pm
Location: GMT +1

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by SdC »

Artlav wrote:.....
And the very fact that no OS promotes itself that way......
no reference means no use.
Artlav
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:53 pm
Location: Moscow

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Artlav »

SdC wrote:no reference means no use.
?
Z98 wrote:And I'm not aware of any other operating system trying to promote itself in such a way. They all use screenshots to show what can be done with the OS, not what it's made up of.
GoBusto
Posts: 579
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:13 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by GoBusto »

Artlav wrote:Why should average person understand it?
Because this average person is probably looking at it because they are interested in it.
Artlav
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:53 pm
Location: Moscow

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Artlav »

GoBusto wrote:Because this average person is probably looking at it because they are interested in it.
?
Artlav wrote:All he need to understand is that the amount of structure in a specific subsystem have increased.
Elledan
Posts: 366
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:18 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Elledan »

Doesn't sound like a bad idea, although my idea I have been toying with for a while now mostly involved pretty graphs and pie diagrams :)

Been trying to put an SVN tracker together which would keep track of implementation status, but it might be easier for the devs to update such things manually. Of course, that'd come dangerously close to 'documentation' and thus changes are they're neglect such a duty :P

I agree, though, that it'd be nifty to convert for example the change log into a brief summary of percentage implementation status per subsystem or such, or similar metric.
User avatar
Black_Fox
Posts: 1584
Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:44 pm
Location: Czechia

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Black_Fox »

Using graphs to show growing codebase size, number of revisions and number of compatible (as in 'working') programs would be much better than showing average people that "something" grows (to Artlav's idea).
hto
Developer
Posts: 2193
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:43 pm

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by hto »

I think it would be a good thing to have a page with some statistics/diagrams/charts about the project.

People come and ask about progress, ask what is going there. Most of changes are indeed internal and invisible. It is impossible for them to read the commit log. And so-called "ChangeLog" is not useful. Newsletters are rare and IMHO too techy. There are no documents (like NEWS) which would describe user-visible changes.
[…] it might be easier for the devs to update such things manually. Of course, that'd come dangerously close to 'documentation' and thus changes are they're neglect such a duty :P
It will not be easier — either they must be updated automatically, or 100% guarantee they will be outdated! :)
Elledan
Posts: 366
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:18 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Elledan »

hto wrote:
[…] it might be easier for the devs to update such things manually. Of course, that'd come dangerously close to 'documentation' and thus changes are they're neglect such a duty :P
It will not be easier — either they must be updated automatically, or 100% guarantee they will be outdated! :)
Easier in a technological sense. I mean, how can a script determine from a pile of source files in SVN what the implementation status is? We might as well just point people to the CIA page and let them browse the piles of commit messages. It requires manual intervention no matter what ^_^
hto
Developer
Posts: 2193
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:43 pm

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by hto »

Of course it would be an AI-complete problem to calculate, given the diffs, how the implementation status changes in time. :)

But it is still possible to show to the general public, in comprehensible form, what is going there.

A script can generate a map of the project with different subsystems on it, such as the kernel or win32k; each of them should be subdivided in lesser and lesser parts. It is not required from people to understand all the details. Then the script should calculate and show on the map, using different colors, amounts of activity in each area (say, for the last day, week, and month).
vicmarcal
Test Team
Posts: 2733
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:35 pm

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by vicmarcal »

hto wrote:Then the script should calculate and show on the map, using different colors, amounts of activity in each area (say, for the last day, week, and month).
This idea is easy to implement,really easy,but it just gives an idea of "How much are we working in an area" but not "The % to finish implementing an area"

How we can implement hto idea in an easy way?
As he said:
hto wrote:subdivided in lesser and lesser parts.
Our SVN trunk is subdivided in folders("lesser and lesser parts") which represents(more or less) those lesser parts: we have a "hal","subsystems","ntoskrnl"...folders which represent perfectly those lesser parts.So just tracking the activity in these folders we can make an activity color map of how the hal,ntoskrnl or subsystem are being developed. Of course we have some SVN folders that doesnt represent by itselves anything, but we can track them together to represent a part of the NT architecture.

This is a nice idea,but again as i said it just shows us which areas are being more developed,but not the % to finish.
hto
Developer
Posts: 2193
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:43 pm

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by hto »

Nobody really knows how much work should be done to finish.

I think that, say, Win32k and user mode User and GDI components should be placed near each other on the map, though they are in the quite different places in the source tree. Many people are aware that they are, roughly, responsible for graphics things. The same for networking, and HAL can be considered as a part of the "Kernel" land.
Elledan
Posts: 366
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 3:18 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Screenshots? Why "screen" shots?

Post by Elledan »

WINE tracks the implementation status of each component they're working on. I have the suspicion that they update that page manually :)
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Trendiction [Bot], Yeti [Bot] and 3 guests