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Posts in web applications
Appcelerator Titanium: Like AIR, But Better
A while ago Adobe released Adobe AIR. AIR was a way of running web applications on your desktop, even when you don’t have an internet connection. The great thing about AIR was that it was cross-platform, so, in theory, you could run any AIR application on Windows, OS X, or Linux. The problem was, that never really worked. Only a few applications really ran right on Linux. In fact, the Linux client never even came out of beta. Worse, AIR was not open-source. Normally, I would not be that bothered by an application being closed-source, but for a technology that could conceivably be running all of our applications, open-source would be far preferable.
Finally, it looks like the right thing has come along: Appcelerator Titanium. Appcelerator Titanium claims to be “the first open platform for building rich desktop applications.” Basically it lets you write desktop applications in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, just as if you were writing a web application. Like Adobe AIR, though, you don’t need an internet connection to run Titanium applications.
Appcelerator Titanium is a promising replacement for Adobe AIR that, in the long term, would be a far superior option, since it would not take us down a route of closed systems controlling our applications, our data, and our computers, but instead allow for an open way to develop great web applications that run on any desktop, no matter the OS.
Appcelerator Titanium can be downloaded now for OS X or Windows. The Linux version will be coming soon.
Another Reason for Open-Source in Web Apps: Data Flow and Syncing
A recent Free Software Magazine article lays out the case for open-source and free software in web applications. I agree with the arguments, but I also want to add another one that I feel is important.
The author touches on data portability, saying that:
“If the users can’t get their data out they will be more reluctant to put it in and they will tell others.”
The issue is more than just getting your data out. Let’s take the example of e-mail. Say I use Thunderbird (if anyone cares, I actually just use the Gmail web interface). I can export my data from Thunderbird to another email client, but it is a hassle. It is perfectly usable if you plan to switch to that new program full time, but if you want to use both or want to try one out, exporting your data is not going to be a workable solution. What you need is a protocol for syncing and exchanging data between multiple applications (in this case, IMAP).
Without IMAP-like protocols for transferring data across web applications, working with web applications from different companies is going to be hard. Why does this require open-source? The answer lies a couple sentences back: “working with web applications from different companies is going to be hard.” Why would you put in effort to make your software work with the competition, particularly if you are Google, Adobe, Microsoft, or any of the other big players? If your application is open-source, though, someone else can do it for you, no matter if you like it or not.
As I have said before, without good data exchange across all web applications, the web app scene is either going to be a monopoly or a disaster. Thanks, but I think I will take the good data exchange option.
Will Ubuntu Be The First to Integrate Web Applications With the Desktop?
Yesterday, Canonical’s founder, Mark Shuttleworth, announced the next version of Ubuntu, that is the one after Intrepid Ibex. The name: Jaunty Jackalope. There are two really interesting bits from this announcement.
First, Shuttleworth says that “We want Ubuntu to boot as fast as possible – both in the standard case, and especially when it is being tailored to a specific device.” I think it is interesting to contrast Microsoft’s philosophy with Ubuntu’s. In each version of Windows, it takes more and more resources to run it at the same speed. With Ubuntu, on the other hand, each version runs at the same speed or faster.
The second, and even more interesting, quote from the announcement is that “Another goal is the the blurring of web services and desktop applications.” Wow. Everyone talks about the integration of web applications with desktop applications, and I think there is little question that web applications clearly benefit Linux, but this is an ambitious goal. In about 7 month, Ubuntu is going to ship with tight integration between web applications and desktop applications. Sure there are some existing projects, but to bring these projects to a point where they are perfectly seamless is going to take some work.
Obviously it still remains to see how far the Ubuntu developers take this. It would be possible for them to just include the already existing software and call it done. If instead, though, they decided to go all the way, with seamless desktop integration, easy offline synchronization, and more, that would be just amazing. Furthermore, it would really push everyone forward. Apple and Microsoft are, as far as we can tell, no where near integrating web applications with their desktops, but if Ubuntu does it well, they may have to.
Depending on how far the developers go with this, integrating web applications with the desktop could be the most significant thing Ubuntu does for some time. Out of the box support for web applications may be the biggest step towards complete adoption of web applications. I guess we just have to wait 7 months to figure out how big this really is.