Re: Windows and DLLs

[Liss Svanberg <lisss ydab se>]

In a previous letter Jochem Huhmann [joh@unidui.uni-duisburg.de] said:

<snip>
> I *really* hate that gtkrc-thing of gtk and gnome, BTW. No way to define
> a hierarchy of settings (per-app, per-user, systemwide). Just like
> oldfashioned  MS-Windows INI-files. It's a shame.

You're thinking of the registry in Win? Have you *any* idea of how much 
trouble that can be traced back to the registry & it's settings hierachy 
(per-app, per-user, systemwide)?

1) per-app
You'll have a *lot* of settings and somewhere inside this amourphous blob 
of data, the program you're just about to run are trying to find some kind 
of critical information. It didn't find it, or it's corrupted - crasch! 
You'll have to fix the problem by hand. You'll spend the rest of your free 
weekend just trying to *find* the settings. (And when you finally find's 
them it's a anonymous blob of data)

2) per-user
UNIX allready has a very nice way of defining settings per user. Store your 
settings in your home dir!
(Windows stores user settings, per-app & per-user & systemwide. Read the 
above "per-app")

3) systemwide
Yea! So that John & Jane Doe can alter the behaviour of the programs I run. 
Whithout even hacking into my user!

and finally...
4) task specific settings
Task settings is say, setting the behaviour of how the system should handle 
mail, not setting the behaviour of how your mailing app should hadle mail. 
It's the complete opposite of the "old fashioned ini files" or the .cfg 
files or the .config files etc.
Sounds very nice.
Until someone is running more than one mailing application. Or changes 
his/her mind and starts running another mailing app.
(And every mailing application using it's own settings format, whithin your 
systemwide settings.)


Belive me.
All of these things has happened.
And I've seen them!

mvh
// Liss <Equal rights to P a r a s i t e s>
liss@ydab.se