Re: Proposed module: conduit

[John Stowers <john stowers lists gmail com>]

On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 14:36 +0200, Patryk Zawadzki wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 2:01 PM, John Stowers
> <john stowers lists gmail com> wrote:
> > I don't know If I agree with the icon being in system/preferences
> > however, for two reasons.
> >
> > * If/when a future, improved UI appears, it will probably live in
> > accessories, so why confuse existing conduit users with two moves, once
> > -> system, and once back to accessories.
> > * The system/prefs menus are already very cluttered, often with items
> > that are neither system related, nor preferences, and often its not
> > clear which menu they should belong in.
> 
> Uhm, if apps are supposed to manage their synchronization via API
> callouts then doesn't the UI really belong to the preferences? Like
> System → Preferences → Synchronization or something. I can't see how
> it's different from libgda's DB access properties or from PolicyKit's
> authorization editor.

I would say the UI is a necessary evil, during the transition, until
more applications utilize the Conduit DBus interface. Justification;

There are many synchronization options Conduit provides, that while
can/should be managed over DBus, are currently not. For example;
 * Anything to do with Tomboy (direct network sync, to usb key/folder
type locations, to ipod notes, etc)
 * Anything to do with evolution and PIM. Although we are working on
other UI concepts for the evolution/PIM case
 * etc

There are also many sync options, that I believe, do not make sense when
managed from another application. From what application, or in what way,
could you manage;
 * RSS/Podcast type sync, photostream to iPod, Youtube to iPod, etc
 * Our network sync functionality, where anything can be synced to
another PC on the local network
 * Folder/Folder sync, USB key insertion, and backup type scenarios (UI
hooks in Nautilus are very limited)
 * Desktop prefs sync

I dont wish to keep repeating this finer point, but there is quite a
distance between what I believe apps should be doing (via DBus), and
what it is currently done. That divide is filled by the Conduit UI, and
we have many users who utilise the UI to do this, both for the scenarios
I outlined above, and countless others. Removing the UI would remove
this functionality from these users.

Team Conduit has worked very hard to integrate with applications where
it makes sense, by writing plugins for EOG, Totem and Nautilus, as well
as expanding the DBus interfaces of many GNOME desktop applications. It
is impractical to require we patch every application we wish to sync
with before we can be admitted to GNOME.

In summary, the current UI is improving, we are working very hard at it,
so removing it all together seems a bit like tossing the baby out with
the bathwater.

Regards,

John