Re: Two computers in one: two users each with their own accounts, monitor, and keyboard?
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Let me add a few more general points about multiseat environments ...
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Multiseat environments have been a great unexploited idea for a long
time (what happened with cars in the 70's has been happening with
computers since the 90's, but no paradigm shift has really happened
since then) The only issues that I see with it are security and truly
functional independent seats. Sure nowadays you can possibly hook up
24 seats to a commercial box with enough (like 6 or 8?) free pci slots
and RAM, but say you have an Internet cafe at some airport/hotel;
would the SSL protocol (based on the plain mac address) take into
consideration that each person has an individual session going on? How
safe would it be? How would you restrict your users environments
regarding security? OK, for kiosks it would be great, but is this what
we truly want?
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Also say you have a home setup or a lab in which security illusions
are less of an issue and using one of these 50 a 100 ft long VGA
cables you have a "seat" in another room. How would she from her room
use a USB external mini device with her data, if USB cables can not be
that long (this is why the picture of the Linux mag article looks
unbearably crowded ;-)) Extra large keyboard, sound and monitor
cables are not that expensive (and if companies start mass marketting
them they would surely become even less expensive) but USB
cables/protocol have some physical impairments. That is why people
using cameras and hidden places need all these "repeaters" and stuff
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A possible solution to this problem (as I see it and I have tried a
number of things (including those Roxio KM-13 keyboards with USB
connectors in them) and read about/thought about such issues at
length) would be to use one of those high-end monitors, which cables
double with sound and USB connections, work as a truly functional USB
hub (form which you could connect mouse, keyboard, pen, mini drives
...). A pen drive you may use, but they would not power up a mini
drive which would be a drag to some semi-serious work, say students at
college or designers editing their large images
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If those and a number of other issues are addressed pertaining to the
OS (virtualization, network and fs security ...), hardware, ACPI, SSL,
user related issues like "presence" (users should be able "to sit any
seat" and select the environment they prefer including OS and just
carry their data in a pocket-size mini drive with them) ... as well as
software related ones. Multiseat environments would be the next great
thing, not only regarding the savings on hardware, but also on the
utility bill ;-) … as well as it would naturally create new
posibilities such as more efficient squid installations in schools
seamless backups, ...
~
lbrtchx
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