ref: f15863ad860b6efd4dafb0999f9aceb4666dd90f
parent: 8f0e673b7d5677a1b29a4fdd045c7a88d2008994
author: sirjofri <sirjofri@sirjofri.de>
date: Sat Jan 13 08:48:43 EST 2024
plumber text
--- a/touchuichal.txt
+++ b/touchuichal.txt
@@ -192,22 +192,52 @@
## Integrated system components
+In addition to the obvious user interface components we discussed earlier, there are other system components that are important for a Plan 9 system.
+Although they can't really be counted as `user interfaces', they still have an enormous impact on the user experience.
+
+These components are usually invisible, but users tend to interact with them using dedicated user interfaces, like the shell or menus.
+
### Plumber
-- How plumber is important for Plan 9 UI
-- It should be natively integrated and feel natural to use it.
+The plumber is Plan 9's integrated component for inter-process communication.
+It is possible to do various things using the plumber, all configurable using a simple configuration file.
+The general functionality of the plumber can also be found in other operating systems, also mobile systems.
+Android, for example, has the concept of ``intents'', which is very similar in a few aspects [AndroidIntents].
+However, the biggest difference is that the plumber can be configured in much more detail by the user.
+
+The plumber is also meant to be used within applications that don't know what can actually be plumbed.
+For example, hyperlink-like texts (URLs) can often only be used in applications that understand the general structure of the URL.
+On Plan 9, the application doesn't need to know the structure of the URL.
+Even the plumber itself doesn't need to know about this structure, but the configuration tells the plumber what to do with it.
+
+There's also no limitation to what can be plumbed.
+From simple text strings, to binary data like images, to full documents or other plumb messages: Nearly everything is `plumbable'.
+
+The survey shows that some users don't use it much directly, others don't know if it's useful in other applications than what's already using it.
+One user admitted that the plumber is ``integral'' to their workflow.
+In total, the plumber scored 3.7 out of 5 points in the survey.
+
+[[[ms
+.\" - How plumber is important for Plan 9 UI
+.\" - It should be natively integrated and feel natural to use it.
+]]]
+
### Namespaces
- How to visualize and manage namespaces on Plan 9, using touch UI.
- Dynamic, per-process namespaces are an integral part of Plan 9.
+### Factotum
+
# References
[[[ms
.LP
-[Meyer] J. Meyer, ``Survey: Plan 9 and Touch User Interfaces'', 2023
+[Meyer] J. Meyer, ``Survey: Plan 9 and Touch User Interfaces'', 2023.
+.br
+[AndroidIntents] Android Developers, ``Intents and intent filters'', https://developer.android.com/guide/components/intent-filters, 2024.
.br
]]]