[K12OSN] Future LTSP direction: Local Apps

[Joe Baker]

The future is a blend of both technologies.
Being able to have the local client run Firefox locally, but being able
to spawn an open office document and have it run from a well endowed
server that does nothing but run OpenOffice for many users concurrently.

What's needed to get there?

1. Gconfd needs to be network enabled instead of just being tied to a
file socket.
2. .desktop files need to be more network aware
3. All the machines providing applications need to understand a similar
filespace.  We are accustomed to the idea of sharing a user's home
directory over NFS, but applications like to use /tmp to pass copies of
files to one another or /var/tmp to store destop environment variables. 
I've tried sharing /tmp out across multiple machines -- it's a weird
thought and things like X Desktops on the local need to be adjusted so
they don't conflict.  Gconfd uses something called "orbit" and orbit has
the ability to be network enabled.  But there needs to be more attention
to this subject if we are to be able to use all the computer resources
on a network to our best advantage.

-Joe Baker
IT Administrator
NEL Frequency Controls, Inc.