>> On Sunday 12 February 2012 04:58:58 pm Timothy Pearson wrote:
>>> Just to jump in here, there is one use case for a lightweight DE that
>>> doesn't involve obsolete hardware: multiuser mainframe-type systems.
>>> When
>>> you have 50 users on one central server, each with a session that is
>>> being
>>> accessed via a remote desktop protocol such as VNC or even the X
>>> protocols, slight reductions in the overhead of each session make a big
>>> difference overall.
>>>
>>> Just something to think about in these odd times, when the personal
>>> computer is being "replaced" with a variant of the old central
>>> mainframe
>>> model....
>>>
>>> Tim
>>
>> Are you talking about cloud computing?
>
> A specific type of cloud computing, yes.  Most cloud computing is Web
> based, but there are a few instances of cloud computing where the entire
> desktop GUI is handled on the remote server and the client is just an I/O
> device with a network connection.
>
>> I've been wandering how that would actually work. I mean, if we all get
>> rid of our boot devices and use "the cloud" to boot our computers and
>> run
>> our apps, how would we configure our computers to know what server(s) to
>> boot from? How would TDE tie into that (as in, how will it work being
>> loaded from "the cloud", and how would the TDE desktop environment
>> change
>> as a whole)? I know that's thinking way far in advance as far as TDE
>> goes,
>> but I'm just curious ;-)
>
> Remember these?
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Computing_Devices
>
> Make the monitor into a touch flatscreen, update the network conection
> with WiFi and Gigabit Ethernet, integrate the optional monitor and
> keyboard into a laptop- or tablet-like device and I think you have where
> we are going.
>
> Truly scary for developers, content producers, or anyone with data worth
> stealing, but for the masses it might actually work rather well (and there
> would be big bucks to be made in providing computing services to these
> devices).
>
> Just my $0.02. :-)
>
> Tim

Whoops--that should obviously read "optional *mouse* and keyboard" above.

Tim