12mo ago

Good luck web devs

Edit: alt text

169 comments

Another funny concept
- Hmm yes, web dev horrors beyond my comprehension!
  
  That, right there, is a perfect example of why folks need to stop trying to shoehorn web apps everywhere they don't belong. It's a use-case for a proper native mobile app if ever there was one.
- Why does this low key feel like something I would actually want to use
  
  Yeah, I actually miss this sometimes, when I'm lounging in some weird position. The question is how much the keyboard would suck.
  
  Because you are not immune to propaganda.
- Congratulations. In almost 30 years, this is the first thing that finally made me want to throw my phone when I saw it.
  
  Smart phones haven't existed for 30 years...
- Well now i wanna use it(probably works in linix phone?)
  
  Linux phones aren't supported because it's an Xorg feature. Usually Linux phones use Wayland for the better (touch) experience. If someone wanted to they could implement it on a Wayland compositor, but given that no other OS I know of supports diagonal mode, I wouldn't hold my breath.
- Honestly though, I have an iPhone SE and holding it diagonally like that is pretty comfy. Could actually be on to something here.
  
  Not familiar with an iPhone SE, assuming it's a smallish phone?
- I almost want it

- They put touchscreens on doorstops now? /s
  
  Java truly runs on everything.
- Embrace the power of the pyramid.
  
  Ackchuwally, that's a prism 🙃
- Unleash the power of the pyramid!

BRB, sticking microcontrollers to the back of my monitors so I can use their accelerometers to report the orientations in real time...
- I would love it so much if xrandr was able to keep up with that and didn't blink for 3 seconds every time you changed orientation
  
  Maybe a custom Wayland compositor could keep up

Now we need triangular windows that reshape in real time when you spin the monitor.
- All of the screen elements should settle like sand in an hour glass, but using voxel physics in real time.
  
  That's would be brilliant. I'm guessing the monitor stands aren't up for the extra usage they'll get, though...
- If we can make windows that can reshape themselves to a shape-shifting 4D monitor, Rami-chan will finally be able to run Linux.

Linux is the only major operating system ~~to support diagonal mode~~
- I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
  Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
  There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!
  
  No, Richard, it's 'Linux', not 'GNU/Linux'. The most important contributions that the FSF made to Linux were the creation of the GPL and the GCC compiler. Those are fine and inspired products. GCC is a monumental achievement and has earned you, RMS, and the Free Software Foundation countless kudos and much appreciation.
  Following are some reasons for you to mull over, including some already answered in your FAQ.
  One guy, Linus Torvalds, used GCC to make his operating system (yes, Linux is an OS -- more on this later). He named it 'Linux' with a little help from his friends. Why doesn't he call it GNU/Linux? Because he wrote it, with more help from his friends, not you. You named your stuff, I named my stuff -- including the software I wrote using GCC -- and Linus named his stuff. The proper name is Linux because Linus Torvalds says so. Linus has spoken. Accept his authority. To do otherwise is to become a nag. You don't want to be known as a nag, do you?
  (An operating system) != (a distribution). Linux is an operating system. By my definition, an operating system is that software which provides and limits access to hardware resources on a computer. That definition applies whereever you see Linux in use. However, Linux is usually distributed with a collection of utilities and applications to make it easily configurable as a desktop system, a server, a development box, or a graphics workstation, or whatever the user needs. In such a configuration, we have a Linux (based) distribution. Therein lies your strongest argument for the unwieldy title 'GNU/Linux' (when said bundled software is largely from the FSF). Go bug the distribution makers on that one. Take your beef to Red Hat, Mandrake, and Slackware. At least there you have an argument. Linux alone is an operating system that can be used in various applications without any GNU software whatsoever. Embedded applications come to mind as an obvious example.
  Next, even if we limit the GNU/Linux title to the GNU-based Linux distributions, we run into another obvious problem. XFree86 may well be more important to a particular Linux installation than the sum of all the GNU contributions. More properly, shouldn't the distribution be called XFree86/Linux? Or, at a minimum, XFree86/GNU/Linux? Of course, it would be rather arbitrary to draw the line there when many other fine contributions go unlisted. Yes, I know you've heard this one before. Get used to it. You'll keep hearing it until you can cleanly counter it.
  You seem to like the lines-of-code metric. There are many lines of GNU code in a typical Linux distribution. You seem to suggest that (more LOC) == (more important). However, I submit to you that raw LOC numbers do not directly correlate with importance. I would suggest that clock cycles spent on code is a better metric. For example, if my system spends 90% of its time executing XFree86 code, XFree86 is probably the single most important collection of code on my system. Even if I loaded ten times as many lines of useless bloatware on my system and I never excuted that bloatware, it certainly isn't more important code than XFree86. Obviously, this metric isn't perfect either, but LOC really, really sucks. Please refrain from using it ever again in supporting any argument.
  Last, I'd like to point out that we Linux and GNU users shouldn't be fighting among ourselves over naming other people's software. But what the heck, I'm in a bad mood now. I think I'm feeling sufficiently obnoxious to make the point that GCC is so very famous and, yes, so very useful only because Linux was developed. In a show of proper respect and gratitude, shouldn't you and everyone refer to GCC as 'the Linux compiler'? Or at least, 'Linux GCC'? Seriously, where would your masterpiece be without Linux? Languishing with the HURD?
  If there is a moral buried in this rant, maybe it is this:
  Be grateful for your abilities and your incredible success and your considerable fame. Continue to use that success and fame for good, not evil. Also, be especially grateful for Linux' huge contribution to that success. You, RMS, the Free Software Foundation, and GNU software have reached their current high profiles largely on the back of Linux. You have changed the world. Now, go forth and don't be a nag.
  Thanks for listening.
  
  I've been using it for more than 20 years, but I still love when someone pulls the GNU/Linux card.
  To me it feels like reading an old plaque in Latin. It reminds me of an important past that shouldn't be forgotten.
  
  You can have a Linux distro without GNU -Alpine Linux is a popular example
  
  That's LiGNUx for short.
  pronunciation? uhhh...
  
  That's a pretty relevant take in this context. Thank you!
  
  Haven't seen this copy pasta in a few months. Great stuff...
  
  So, GNU is GNU is Not Unix, but now it's not Linux either?
  GNUOL ?

Not on wayland, right? Time to pester wayland devs to add this important missing features!
- Probably would fall into scope of a compositer in Wayland, rather than the protocol. I suspect it originated with old CRT displays. Sometimes they can appear scan diagonally.
  Even without that usecase, I think it's great to have around in order to support novel displays and display-like devices.

How many minor operating systems support it? 🤔
- I'm assuming most that can run Xorg.
  
  Correct
- There's ReactOS and BSD off the top of my head.
  
  Haiku counts
- I think ToaruOS does? I remember reading something about it but haven't managed to install it yet to verify.
  Edit: found it

Why would you want this?
- to display Java class names on a single line
  
  This person gets it
- What if your monitor has a bullet hole you want to avoid looking at?
  
  Why does your monitor have a bullet hole?
  
  A bullet hole would be slightly less annoying than the one green dead pixel I have at work.
- Why would you not?
  
  Can't argue with that.
- (insert image of Mt. Everest)
  Because It's There.
- It’s a novelty. I for one deeply love unusually shaped monitors and UXs.
- Could be useful for an interactive art installation or something alike.
- Possibly to run those strangely shaped outdoor billboard signs
- in case you use a pear phone as a daily driver
- I thought it was surely just a joke but looking at the devices to the right maybe this was due to limited desk space?
- It could be useful if you live in a submarine that is always emerging/submerging.
- 4th nerve palsy posse has been asking for this for years.
- It's not about why. It's about the freedom to do.

Finally, Peewees Playhouse has found open source representation.
- Jambi is GNU

How can you do fractional rotation? Does it only work with x11 or is it also supported in wayland?
- Rotating the display by a custom angle is possible through xrandr on X.org.
  There's no Wayland protocol for custom angle rotation, and I don't expect anyone to create a protocol extension without a use-case.
  My wild guess: Theoretically it should be possible for a compositor to support similar custom rotation, as applications simply draw to their surface (window), without knowing how and where it is displayed on the viewport (display).
  But it might require quite a bit of work, depending on the project, so I don't expect to ever see custom rotation on anything besides smaller/niche compositors.
  [1] https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/552138/rotate-a-display-by-custom-angle#552140
  
  There’s no Wayland protocol for custom angle rotation, and I don’t expect anyone to create a protocol extension without a use-case.
  Puh-lease. It's Wayland; the devs fully and honestly expect every app developer (eg.: calc, Libreoffice, notepad.exe) to implement custom angle rotation on their own.
  
  There’s no Wayland protocol for custom angle rotation, and I don’t expect anyone to create a protocol extension without a use-case.
  [gestures at thread] Does this not count??? 😁
  Seriously, though: I suspect there might be non-novelty use-cases in mobile devices, especially things like smart watches. Those aren't beyond the scope of Wayland in the long run, are they?
- in wayland the compositor is king they can do mhatever they want with the screen
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBLLC5fOy98&list=PLb7YRKEhWEBUIoT-a29UoJW9mhfzjpNle&index=2&pp=iAQB
  
  Time to ask the wayfire devs to implement fractional screen rotation.
- I was looking into this earlier to try fixing a display that was being offset on an old tv screen. The display was going off the left side of the TV, causing a black bar on the right side.
  I was trying xrandr, and fixed it somewhat by offsetting the display back, but somehow it did not fix the right side - it seemed as if the display had went under the black bar.
  But yeah you can offset, stretch, skew and rotate with xrandr
  
  The --rotate normal,inverted,left,right does not work, but you can use the transform option to achieve the same effect. To create the transformation matrix you can use something like: https://angrytools.com/css-generator/transform/
  for translateXY enter half the screen resolution
  don't copy the generated code, it has the numbers in the wrong order just type out the matrix row wise.
  The final command looks like this:
  xrandr --output screen-1 --transform 0.87,-0.50,960,0.50,0.87,540,0,0,1
  To restore the original use (type this in first, because if you screw up you might not be able to see anything anymore):
  xrandr --output screen-1 --transform 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1
  I tested it on x11.
  
  Did you check the actual TV settings? Some of them let you adjust where picture is displayed iirc.

Who hurt you

I remember seeing the video of this. The guy was doing it for shits and giggles, but it ended up looking great!
- Can you link it?
  
  No idea what it was, sorry. One of the youtube recommendations at the time.

Ha~! WebDevs haven't cared about desktop for years.
- Product owners, you mean. They are the ones that determine support level of browser and as a result, what testers focus on. Devs don't focus on things that aren't a priority because otherwise they're working on that on the evenings and weekends free of charge.

I won't try implement something like this even my boss forces me.
- No one does this kind of stuff because someone asked them to do it. This is the kind of useless, insane stuff you do for the lulz, or because someone dared you.

I hate this.

Original Article
Basically, it’s just some cool X11 magic that uses a matrix transformation to rotate the screen.

What has science done?
- There's no science here.

a great prank for computer labs... just rotate everything by 0.5 degrees...
- Yeah, keep adding 0.5 deg every minute or so.
  
  Add a randomizer that has a chance of resetting it back to normal every now and then for maximum chaos