Replacing My Window Manager with Google Chrome

foxmoss.com

91 points

foxmoss

4 days ago


21 comments

raphinou 13 hours ago

This is based on the Chromium Embedded Framework. I've always been surprised this kind of framework was not encouraged for Firefox by Mozilla (I've read they were even against it).

  • mid-kid 8 hours ago

    Before they got rid of XUL, this was the sort of thing possible with it.

yokljo 12 hours ago

This is a pretty neat idea, and shows that maybe a desktop environment could be a lot more flexible than we're used to if it was based on something flexible. Not exactly counter intuitive.

I'd like to see how complex a CEF-based Wayland compositor would be in comparison.

How about using Godot instead of CEF? It has a pretty full-featured UI system.

So many possibilities.

  • yokljo 12 hours ago

    While you're at it, go on a huge tangent writing a library that allows one implementation to work as both an X11 and Wayland compositor.

    Actually why stop there? Make said library also compile to a full screen Windows and Macos application that somehow renders the contents of windows to textures and does event handing etc. that way you can write your desktop environment once and use it everywhere.

    I've gone crazy with power.

SpikedCola 5 hours ago

Not sure why, but the text doesn't appear in Chrome 109: https://imgur.com/a/QyIdfax

If I disable "font-family: Atkinson" it comes back, so guessing it's font related. I do see the two .woff files load in the Network tab. Interestingly, when I preview either font file, I see the sample of the font (AaBbCc etc.) in a flash for just milliseconds, and then it disappears and I see nothing.

jeffjeffbear 15 hours ago

When I was younger I thought of replacing most of the OS with a browser since that is how I used it. but this is weird and not in a good way. Maybe using Firefox would feel better.

GaryBluto 14 hours ago

I believe the earlier versions of Chrome/Chromium OS took this to the logical extreme.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2009/11/19/208062/google-gi...

nahuel0x 6 hours ago

Windows 98 Active Desktop vibes :)

wiseowise 12 hours ago

> It’s quite a bit easier to tweak CSS constants, and JS snippets then it is to change style embedded already in a long standing modern desktop/window manager. So let’s bring the web to the desktop and have a browser control the system.

Jesus, bro, you can’t say stuff like this here.

Half of HN is going to have a stroke and will end up sounding like Hodor – native, natuve, ntve.