Roadmap 2023

[Norman Feske]

Hi Johannes,

> Let me join the brainstorming session...

your posting has put a big smile on my face!

The wealth of topics you mentioned in your review is nothing short of 
amazing. I am particularly grateful that you put so much effort into 
making Genode known to wider public, like via your excellent hackster.io 
article series. You re-approached the combination of Genode with FPGAs 
with so much energy and creativity, while not loosing sight of 
interesting side issues all along the way.

>> What directions are you most excited about?
> 
> I am most excited about the PinePhone support. Given that I'm using
> Sculpt on PC already on a daily basis, being able to reliably make
> phone calls and perform secure messaging on a handheld device is the
> most intriguing prospect. I'd happily contribute to this undertaking as
> much as I can.

Given your track record with using and improving Goa, I would very much 
welcome your contribution towards the Goa-based app-SDK topic.

> As already mentioned, I'd love to contribute to the PinePhone support.
> Yet, as I don't want to allocate myself on a critical path, I'm
> thinking about implementing some nice-to-have features. For instance,
> I'd like to have a go with LVGL to write a custom lock-screen component
> for the PinePhone. Moreover, I'm thinking about integrating support for
> the proximity/ambient-light sensor.

That sounds like fun. Remembering the posting by Will regarding the 
navigation topic, the compass might also come in mind.

> I believe there are a few low-hanging fruits that could potentially
> improve the usability of Sculpt OS (predominantly on PC). For instance,
> it'd be great to have a file browser component that simplifies
> "opening" files, such as PDFs, audio files, etc., with a component
> which is registered for the particular file type. I think this would
> greatly improve the usability as I'd be able to download files with the
> native falkon browser and safely open them in a sandboxed viewer.

I'm sure that your idea would resonate very well with other Sculpt users 
longing for desktop-environment-like features. Personally, I actually 
often find myself in the situation you just described. Happily using the 
Falkon browser until I come across a PDF, which lures me back to using a 
Linux VM.

> Ever since I started working with Genode, I had the idea in mind of
> using Genode for my home server. A first step would be to use it as a
> headless VM host. For monitoring and administration, it'd be useful to
> have a Leitzentrale to control other (headless) Genode devices. This
> could not only be useful for the server use case but for managing
> distributed Genode installations in general.

That's another interesting direction. As you just said, you are not 
short of ideas! Given your remark about your foreseeable time 
restrictions, we shouldn't put too many of these ideas on the road map 
though. They are probably best pursued in an open-ended light-hearted 
way without obligatory feelings.

Cheers, and my best wishes regarding the anticipated time restrictions.

Norman

-- 
Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske
Genode Labs

https://www.genode-labs.com · https://genode.org

Genode Labs GmbH · Amtsgericht Dresden · HRB 28424 · Sitz Dresden
Geschäftsführer: Dr.-Ing. Norman Feske, Christian Helmuth