The last operating system
We have grown used to calling “normal”, in computing, the operating systems with “windows”, “folders”, a “trash can” and other analogies to the material world. Let us now imagine an operating system that worked exactly as these metaphors suggest. We will give it the geeky name of LastOS (the last Operating System). Below, we analyze how it works.
Folders. Like any self-respecting folder, folders in LastOS would not hold infinite content, much less automatically sort their content in alphabetical order. Data would be presented in the order it was put in, and if it happened to exceed the folder’s capacity, the folder would burst, scattering data all over the hard drive and delegating to the user the arduous task of reorganizing it by hand.
Trash. This one would have to be emptied and cleaned daily. If data were forgotten in the LastOS trash for more than 24 hours, it would begin to rot, breeding a proliferation of assorted viruses that could affect the computer’s operation.
Clipboard. This one might actually work better in LastOS — for the classic clipboard is a mysterious entity that exterminates whatever was copied before it, with every new Ctrl+C. As one would expect from an ordinary clipboard, with each Ctrl+C the new content would simply pile on top of the previously copied content, and it would be possible to leaf through the pile manually, item by item.
Windows. There are the kind that slide up and down, the kind that open like doors, louvered ones, etc. In any case, a window is not a magical rectangle, resizable and easily draggable — and LastOS windows would have something fragile about them, to be handled with care so they would not shatter, ruining whatever activity or program was running within the window’s bounds.
Files. Perhaps the most preposterous analogy of all. Could someone explain to us what a set of information programmed to perform a specific task has to do with a paper file? In this case, not even LastOS could find a suitable function — perhaps merely a place to store folders, which would add nothing to the function performed by the hard drive, etc.
So as not to become too tedious and literal, let us stop at these examples. What we want to notice here is the following: the computer is of a very different nature from the objects selected to name its functions and tools. Our folders and windows are nothing more than the projection of our limitations onto a system that exists precisely to counter the precariousness of the material organization systems we have. LastOS would serve to make this limited condition more explicit, and perhaps force our intellect to understand these humble machines a little better, bringing into our material lives the lessons of practicality and organization we can extract from our little friends made of chips, processors and disks.
ps. Since I am not a programmer and understand zilch about how to build even a single program, I can only hint at what I think through a mediocre text, of somewhat nerdy humor, without great reach or anything innovative. This text was shamelessly conceived on top of the ideas of Theodor Holm Nelson, and it is also a modest homage to this man who saw some decades ahead, and was one of the only voices to fight the mediocrity of the businessmen of computing in his time.