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Thoughts about the Gemini protocol

A. E. Spencer-Reed easrng at gmail.com

Fri Aug 21 22:34:02 BST 2020

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Yeah, I think what we need is a system with using sandboxed WASI with somekind of file based GUI API. Apps would be run in a sandbox with a temporaryfolder and a size limited persistent folder. I think the name GravityRuntime is good.

On Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 2:51 PM Dave Gauer <dave at ratfactor.com> wrote:

On 8/14/20 4:59 AM, /dev/urandom wrote:

I was thinking about an idea similar to Gemini that could work as a

protocol for not just websites, but also simple and functional web

applications as well that could, to a reasonable extent, look and work

well on lots of different devices (desktops, smartphones, feature

phones, text-mode interfaces).

Gemini has hard conceptual/technical boundaries which make it pretty

unsuitable for building general purpose applications. And that is, of

course, on purpose.

I've thought for years that browsers should have entirely separate modes

of operation: one presents content and the other is an application

client. The user would have strict control over which mode was being

used, so I could say that reddit.com can only do "displaying content"

things, but gmail.com can do "application" things.

But I like even more the idea of having separate clients (and protocols)

for these purposes.

I feel like Gemini "solves" the content mode.

We still need the application mode. Universal distributed applications

are incredibly useful and cool (and that use of the Web keeps me

employed). But the Web _sucks_ for making applications.

So, if I were to build the "Gemini of applications", I think I would

take a hard look at two things:

* WASM for execution

* Existing UI languages for layout

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebAssembly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_user_interface_markup_languages

I like your abstract input examples. The client should be able to

determine the best way to present this to the user. Entering a date on

a desktop computer should not use the same UI as a touchscreen kiosk or

a voice-activated home assistant! Nor should the application developer

need to create these UIs from scratch each and every time.

Hmm, now we just need a good name for a "Gemini of applications"...

:-)

2. Continuous connections

3. Append mode

#3 is intriguing. I suppose it's to allow the server to respond with

messages such as "I didn't understand 'asdfklj' as a date!" or provide

interactive feedback, such as a session with an Eliza-like chatbot or

-Dave

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