RE: PROPOSAL : Integrating system tools in GNOME

["Eugenia Loli-Queru" <eloli hotmail com>]

>The PROBLEM :
>Gnome is absolutly UI inconsistent in respect to system tools.

The problem is real, but your solution is probably not the best. Gnome is a
framework, and it should provide framework-oriented solutions, not do the
job of the distros, bsds and unix (or osx). That would be way too much work
and a nightmare to maintain so many distro versions and OSes that work a bit
different than each other (e.g. Solaris, HP-UX, IRIX, OSX, AIX, all BSDs,
all gazillion Linuxes). Gnome is, let's say, an OEM desktop solution, rather
than the solution used unchanged everywhere.

So, to fix the problem of preference/system-settings inconsistency is to
create a *framework* where distros/OSes can use it to *easily* port or
rewrite or write their tools. The target would be that by using that
framework these settings panels would feel like home, integrated to Gnome
and well-placed in the menu hieriarchy without having the OS makers thinking
too hard how to do things to look good (the framework should take care most
of the pain).

I have already talked about this extensively and provided some half-a$$ed
mockups. :-)
http://lists.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2004-January/msg00250.html

To recap, pointing the problem is correct, and Gnome should provide the
backend functionality operating as an OEM framework, instead of
re-implementing every single system-specific system setting/panel that might
be very different from distro to distro and OS to OS. That would be
unmaintainable.

Rgds,
Eugenia