XSW SP #2 – Shelling on a Razors Edge (2000-10-04)

Lowspirit and his team over at Low Dimension have put out
some rather nice programs in the past.  Among them are IP Watcher,
MadCow, and the very popular Quick Notes.  Along this line of great
programs comes SharpOS.  Like the programs they have made in the
past, SharpOS does not disappoint.  Pleasing to look at and easy
to use, it will be a shell for all level of custo users.

After speaking with Lowspirit on IRC a while back, I asked
him how SharpOS was going.  He later sent me a pre-beta version of it
and I have been playing with it ever since.  I am really impressed
by how it is coming along.  Although at this time it is static and
not modular, it is a very clean, easy to use, and appealing shell.
There are a ton of options already and new ones are being added with
each update.

Here follows the interview I had with Low.  It covers SharpOS’s
current state, it’s future, and a few personal questions.

+——-<*>——-+

<XSWeekly>  Why did you decided to start work on SharpOS?

<Lowspirit> Inspiried by shells like Outsider and LiteStep, we just
wanted to create something in between.  It all started
with a simple launchbar, and it evolved into a full
fledged shell as we decided to add more and more features
to it.

<XSWeekly>  So is SharpOS still something in between?

<Lowspirit> We aimed at making it as feature packed as Litestep can
be with all the modules available out there, while still
keeping that compact feeling of having it all in one
place.  So I’d say it’s a good description, a cross
between LiteStep and Outsider.

<XSWeekly>  Although it seems to be very featured packed, it is not
all that modular.  What are your plans for implementing
more functionality?

<Lowspirit> We are currently looking into having the possibility to
load litestep modules.  Other then that, once we get a
stable version we do plan do make all the things you see
in the SharpBar separate plugins, so initially it won’t
be modular at all, but with time we aim to make it so.

<XSWeekly>  What about third party support?  Does this go along with
the future plan of making the SharpBar plugin capable?

<Lowspirit> Once we establish a plugin format we will of course make
a SDK available.

<XSWeekly>  Do you every plan on opening the source under a gpl or
similar license?

<Lowspirit> Actually yes.  Once we get a taskbar in there I think the
code could be interesting for people to peek at since we
would have code for a fully functional Systray, VWM,
Desktop, and task management in there then. Originally I
would have said no since the code in the SharpBar is very
generic and relatively easy to code.

<XSWeekly>  What do you see for the future of SharpOS?

<Lowspirit> My vision of the future for SharpOS goes in waves,
sometime I just feel it sucks and why bother with all the
other high quality shells out there, and sometimes I
feel like it really really rocks, and right now I feel
that it really really rocks and I think it has a bright
future with a place in shell history.

<XSWeekly>  As it is right now, the looks is pretty static.  Are
there any plans for changing this?

<Lowspirit> This is still haven’t been decided, if we want it
skinnable or not.  We do know people would want it
skinnable, but there are so many of those out there so…
as I said, still undecided.

<XSWeekly>  How about an alternative, like geOShell did?

<Lowspirit> We would have to finish all the core components first,
before deciding anything, but personally, I don’t feel
any need to skin it and think it only would bloat the
code and make it eat more memory.  It’s not really up to
me to decide. After the first public beta, we’ll listen
to user feedback and decide which way to do it.

<XSWeekly>  Tell me a little about yourself.
<Lowspirit> Well I’m Swedish, 19 years old, have a daily job, I train
Ashihara Karate 2 times a week.  Other then that I’m
pretty much your average fellow.

<XSWeekly>  How is it living out there?

<Lowspirit> Out here? It’s arctic cold and polar bears roam the
streets… =) , it’s nothing out of the ordinary, cold
though.

<XSWeekly>  Besides martial arts and coding, what else do you do for
fun?

<Lowspirit> I’m a cinema freak, so I tend to spend quite a lot money
on seeing all the latest movies (even if they suck) and I
sleep a lot… yeah, sleeping is nice.

<XSWeekly>  Do you have anything you would like to add to this
interview that I have not asked?

<Lowspirit> Well, since SharpOS is under development I’d like to
urge people to send in suggestions of features they’d
like to see in the final product.  Anything goes so
don’t be afraid the email me. Other then that, nope.

<XSWeekly>  Well, thanks for taking some time out of your sleeping to
grant me this interview.  I personally cannot wait to see
the final product.

<Lowspirit> Thanks.

+——-<*>——-+

I wish I had had more time to interview Low, but work was
already getting in the way.  I like the work that he does, and the
person that he is.  I see SharpOS doing what he hopes that it does,
taking its place in shell history.

- demigod

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