> Will my data be on the WikiOS or on my hard drive?
The sandbox allows for OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog, so you can directly access user-specified files on the hard drive.
There is also an online storage, but it is currently in the alpha stage. For the moment we recommend using the open/save dialogs and work with local files.
> If I make a program, could not a competitor add a change that "accidentally" introduces a security hole?
A competitor may indeed commit acts of vandalism, just like on any other web 2.0 site. However, we work hard to ensure that such illegal acts cannot - by design of the system - lead to security holes.
> What would you define as sensitive?
Currently, all the classes that are involved in the boot sequence (from the startup to the moment you see the desktop) are marked as "critical" and can only be modified by moderators. Furthermore, the "Code Editor" and the "History" applications are also marked as "critical" so that it is always possible to undo vandals changes.
> Can a program on the WikiOS interact with host programs and if so, to what degree?
No, a program on Wiki-OS cannot interact with programs running on the host machine, except through the OpenFileDialog, the SaveFileDialog, and a few other very controlled features of the sandbox.
Yes, you can access the list of projects and contributions by clicking "Edit Project..." from the "Applications" menu inside Wiki-OS.
For example, the window manager and the taskbar source code can be found in the project named "WindowManager".
You can also see the list of contributions (sorted by date) by launching the "History" application. For the list of changes of a specific project, open a project in the Code Editor and then click "Social" -> "View history of changes".
Repeated vandalism is banned. Other conflicts are solved like on Wikipedia, where moderators step in if no consensus is found.
Furthermore, people are encouraged to add new features and create alternatives instead of modifying the existing classes, so that the popularity-based mechanisms do the job. For example, the "Filters" menu of the "Image Editor" is automatically populated with all the classes that inherit from the IFilter interface, sorted by popularity.
For most apps, such as a calculator or a 3D game, vandalism is not a very big problem because:
- there is no sensitive data to steal
- there is low motivation to vandalize (whereas some wikipedia articles are highly controversial)
- it requires more effort to vandalize an application (the code is not saved if there is a syntax error) than to vandalize a Wikipedia article.
- the sandbox in which the applications run ensures that the user's computer is not accessible from the application.
However, for applications that manipulate personal data, there is indeed a challenge. At present, sensitive portions of the OS require moderators approval in order to be modified. We are also working to implement code access security systems to address this issue. But for the time being, we indeed recommend not entering personal or sensitive information.
I know that on HN a majority are on Mac or Linux, but Windows is still a big platform. But yes, we know it's a major problem and it will be fixed very, very soon.
The sandbox allows for OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog, so you can directly access user-specified files on the hard drive.
There is also an online storage, but it is currently in the alpha stage. For the moment we recommend using the open/save dialogs and work with local files.
> If I make a program, could not a competitor add a change that "accidentally" introduces a security hole?
A competitor may indeed commit acts of vandalism, just like on any other web 2.0 site. However, we work hard to ensure that such illegal acts cannot - by design of the system - lead to security holes.
> What would you define as sensitive?
Currently, all the classes that are involved in the boot sequence (from the startup to the moment you see the desktop) are marked as "critical" and can only be modified by moderators. Furthermore, the "Code Editor" and the "History" applications are also marked as "critical" so that it is always possible to undo vandals changes.
> Can a program on the WikiOS interact with host programs and if so, to what degree?
No, a program on Wiki-OS cannot interact with programs running on the host machine, except through the OpenFileDialog, the SaveFileDialog, and a few other very controlled features of the sandbox.