[gDesklets] A few general questions

["Murmel Tier" <mumrel gmail com>]

Hi,

i just recently read the developers book and have some questions.
Maybe someone of you can help me with (a few of) them. I am a student of CS,
have some experience with programming languages (more C, C++, Java like,
close to no experience with python so far) and gdesklets might become a
playground for me.

1) Why sandboxing? The page says that "special care was taken to protect the
user by running the code in a sandboxed environment.".
To protect whom from who? The way I see it at a first glance is, that the
user is protected aigainst himslef, since installing and running a desklet
always happens in the context of the user. Is that right?

2) How is sandboxing implemented (only a few words).

3) Which part of pythons libraries are useable? Data structures? How can I
determine if module/class X can be used for developing an desklet?

4) How many active developers are working on the core of gdesklets, how many
submissions do you get per month?

5) If I develop a desklet and or a control, will it run on future versions
of gdesklets?

6) Do all the control and desklets on the homepage run on the latest version
(today: 0.36b), or could it be the case, that control X only runs on
gdesklet 0.22 since 0.23 changed the API or so?
So the question is, can one just use all controls without thinking, or must
one be more careful? Are there any dependencies?

7) To start with gdesklets I want to implement a simple svg face, whoose
eyes follow the mouse pointer (rolling eyes). I've seen that if the mouse is
inside the dekslet, one can get its x and y coordinates. Am I right, that if
I want the position of the mouse outside of the desklet (on the desktop) I
have to write a control for that?

8) I am using gnome. If I use the show desktop button, sometimes my dekslets
disappear, too. Is this a local problem or even desired beahvior?

Thanks for your replies!
Greetings mumpiz