Re: [Gnumed-devel] GNUmed in a webbrowser

[Wolfgang Keller]

> > > I cannot tell how often I have brought up the subject of making
> > > GNUmed available via a webbrowser.
> > 
> > Which provides a highly negative "added value" for the end user.
> > 
> > So just forget it. "Web apps" are a fad, created from a cerebral
> > flatulance of a "leader", i.e. a clueless moron who never had to do
> > any actually useful work with a computer.
> 
> Now that is an highly interesting opinion. Could you be more
> specific ? 
> There must be a technical reason why you dislike web apps. 

It's called functionality, efficiency, ergonomics etc...
 
> What I look for when using (maybe inaccurate wording) the term web
> app is a way to let a user use no more then a webbrowser

"No more than a web browser" - That means requiring to run "just":

- a huge fat monster that's essentially a giant barndorn to all
viruses, trojans et al in the world,
- that does *not* provide a GUI functionality comparable to an even
half-decent GUI framework (don't tell me about kludges such as
"Javascript" or "HTML 5")
- while hogging totally outrageous amounts of system ressources
compared to even a *fat* GUI framework like Qt
- *and* transforming even a computer running an actual(ly) *operating*
system into a "ball-and-a-chain" for the user that doesn't do anything
else any more than to animate the cursor while "not responding".

In other terms, "web apps" are an extremely effective method to
turn even the most powerful computer with the largest screen into
something that's far less useful for the end-user who needs to get some
work done than an age-old Mac from 1984 running a client developed
with, e.g. Omnis.

Wow, now that's a real *innovation*.

Thirty years of technological advancement for an actual regression in
end-user productivity.

> to look up information in a GNUmed database and to store information
> in a GNUmed database.
> 
> Why is this an interesting concept ? Because it allows a user with
> few ressources to access information. 

Certainly not for users with "few ressources".

A user with "few ressources" won't even be able to install or start up a
"modern" "web browser" at all.

While running a stripped-down Linux distribution with a wxPython
client is perfectly feasible on something with, e.g. 128MB RAM or so.

> I also allows you to access information in environments where you
> don't have access to your fully tailored working environment (your
> own devices).

Make the client "portable" (self-contained, on the Mac this is the
mandatory default anyway), to run it off a USB device without requiring
"installation" of anything. On *all* operating systems.

Sincerely,

Wolfgang