Re: rfc: gnome-inetd

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Sean Middleditch">

> The idea is that there are a list of commands port in GConf.  The daemon
> reads these and listens on the ports - when a connection comes in it
> launches the command, redirecting standard I/O to the new process.  Just
> like inetd, for the most part.

It would have to be "services" rather than "ports", because the ports are
almost always dynamic (cf. vino, g-u-s).

> Best of all, because this is managed by GConf, administrators have
> control.  They can mandate that some services are always on (desktop
> sharing, which admins probably use the most) and others are always off.
> Configuration dialogs for various services would simple mark an enabled or
> disabled flag for services for users to turn them on and off (if they are
> allowed to).

The greatest impact something like this would have is on user interaction.
Currently, vino and g-u-s have their own entirely separate dialogues for
enabling/disabling *and* configuration. What we should have instead, is a
dialogue for service enabling/disabling and 'Configure...' buttons for each,
if they require configuration. Example:

 [x] Remote Desktop    (Configure...) -> runs the little config dialogue app
 [ ] File Sharing

(Man, it's hard to describe g-u-s accurately and concisely, without
confusing it with things like Samba or NFS. Maybe "Web File Sharing"?)

- Jeff

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linux.conf.au 2005: Canberra, Australia                http://linux.conf.au/
 
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