The web platform is starting to get annoying in its attempt to re-invent and re-create everything that previously existed in the Desktop space.
Finally, Desktop developers are beginning to wake up to this problem.
For years, browser-developing companies have tried to turn the Browser into an operating-system-like autonomous system. While the rest of us were trying to figure out how to get our favorite tools (Python) into the browser space.
No one seems to have fully realized yet, that it is much easier for us, Desktop denizens to conquer the world than for the browser people. They miss almost everything from the kernel up, while all we need to do is integrate better the web into the desktop.
We don't even need browsers. Minimize your browser (and all other windows you may have open) an look at that beautiful picture in you desktop. When was the last time you had a productive relationship with your desktop? Mine is used mainly to hang a pretty picture and place a bunch of useless files stashed to one side so they don't mess up the view. But even with my beautiful wallpaper unblocked by the icons on the desktop, I rarely look at it, because my browser is always blocking the view.
IMHO, the web should take the place of the walpaper and desktop apps should be gradually adapted to be more and more web aware, so that we don't need thousands of browser extensions duplicating the functionalities of our desktop apps which can't deal with the web.
My extension loaded Firefox, currently takes almost as long to start as Ubuntu to boot. Why do I need this mamooth when I could have the web on my desktop and integrated with all of my operating system? Why on earth do we need yet another OS?
Chrome OS according to recently released information, is a linux kernel with a light-weight graphics layer (not X) dedicate to a browser (chrome in this case). They are doing exactly what I proposed above, but I am not prepared to give away my desktop for that. What we need to do now, is to prove that the browser is the problem, not the operating system.
