GNOME standard interfaces [Was: Re: GEP 10, again]

[Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org>]

On Tue, 2003-05-13 at 23:15, Rodrigo Moya wrote:
> On Tue, 2003-05-13 at 23:29, Damien Sandras wrote:
> > > 
> > > Damien: how do you feel about the integration part of this? I know
> > > you've suggested some ways (you register a mime handler now, right?)
> > 
> > Currently I'm registering a callto url-handler that can be used by other
> > applications. For example, Epiphany is already able to use it, if
> > somebody embeds his callto URL into a webpage, clicking on it will start
> > GnomeMeeting (or communicate it the new URL if it is already running)
> > and call that person.
> > 
> > > that this would be improved, but I'm curious if you have other
> > > examples/ideas where this could benefit us.
> > > 
> > 
> > I've already thought about this and I'm open to all propositions and to
> > discussion about that topic. Currently, I think the best integration
> > level can be achieved with URLs (Microsoft Callto URLs, H.323 URLs, and
> > later SIP URLs).
> > 
> > I don't plan to provide with GnomeMeeting a library or a coding
> > framework to create new applications, but I think that it is very
> > important for GnomeMeeting to be usable by other applications. That
> > could mean a BONOBO component (even though I'm not sure it is really the
> > way to go) or the current URL scheme that could be integrated in more
> > applications.
> > 
> > Imagine for example syncing between the GnomeMeeting addressbook, and
> > the Evolution calendar : you could schedule a meeting with somebody, and
> > Evolution could propose to the user to try to contact the remote user,
> > either calling his computer, or calling his phone number if you are
> > using a provider for PC-To-Phone calls (Phone-To-PC calls could also be
> > possible).
> > 
> in this scenario, I guess a sort of interface should be in place, so
> that evolution can tell gnomemeeting to open a conference with 'n'
> people, setup conference options, etc. And this comes up to the
> 'standard GNOME IDL interfaces' thing, which I think we should start
> considering more seriously.
> 
> For a good integration, we want apps to talk to each other, and having
> 'just' a URL to start up the app might not be enough in a lot of cases.
> 
> And, of course, for that (custom interfaces), the best thing is
> corba/bonobo, which was created right for the task of making apps
> communicate with each other.

There seem to be quite a few people, including myself, who think bonobo
inter-app communication is the way to go for complex interactions (D-BUS
also has its place, but probably for simpler message passing).

Do we have active GNOME hackers who understand bonobo IDLs and how to
use it for this purpose? Someone who can actually do the work to draft
up some interfaces, and is a good engineer and can get the interfaces
nearly-Right first time? Are there programs that use bonobo to this
purpose already?

I know I'm revealing my ignorance of the GNOME community, since I've
only been here for just less than a year. But if we really are serious
about componentising the desktop, maybe more people need to understand
and readily use the technology. I don't, and would need more real-life
applications of it to understand it, and maybe other people feel the
same.

-- 
Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org>

"A freudian slip is when you say one thing but you mean your mother." -- unknown