Re: [DDR] Re: GNOME Software Map: Reinventing the weel?

[Matt Wilson <msw gimp org>]

Actually, GNOME has had a GUI disk setup tool for ages.  It was
called gnome-gfdisk written by Maurer Dietmar <dm@vlsivie.tuwien.ac.at>
A screenshot:

http://nui.vlsivie.tuwien.ac.at/gfdisk/gfdisk.jpg

gnome-gfdisk has been in GNOME CVS since around August of 1998.
Development on it had tapered off, so the disk editing functions were
taken out and an new front end is mostly written.  It is a GNOME
Canvas based application, very slick looking IMNSOHO.  A (very
incomplete) screenshot can be seen:

http://www.gnome.org/~msw/gnome-ddruid-3.png

(yes, it's not so colorful at the moment - I'm adding things like
colored squares based on the partition type in the near future.)

The GUI front end is going to be the front end (I hope. :) for a new
combined effort by myself at Red Hat, Andrew Clausen of libresize (the
algorithms that Pixel's perl code re-implements), and Lennert Buytenhek
of ext2resize.

This project has been in planning for a few months.  We're at the
stage now that we can begin to assemble the three pieces into a very
impressive disk manipulation package.

I don't think that the official GNOME disk management program can be
written sufficiently in perl.  Just because it uses the GTK perl
bindings doesn't qualify it as being a GNOME program.

As far as I know, Andrew wasn't contacted by Pixel even after the
first pass of perl-izing libresize was complete.  This new rewrite has
effectively branched the libresize code.  So, the re-implementing of
the wheel has already happened.

So why haven't you heard about this project yet?  It's not done.
We're not going to go and publish a press release for half-baked
software that isn't yet robust enough for general use.  I expect that
it won't be long until the general API for the library is ready and
various developers can have a chance to use it.

Matt

On Wed, Jul 28, 1999 at 03:15:34PM +0200, Chmouel Boudjnah wrote:
> Eduardo Silva <jobezone@yahoo.com> writes:
> 
> > But, only recently, Mandrake has released a beta
> > of DiskDrake with these and more functions in GPL
> > license.
> > And
> > it's even made with gtk! 
> > Why aren't people taking advantage of the GPL, which
> > grants us to take it and change it to our heart's
> > desire?
> > Or why won't anybody contact with Mandrake first, to
> > see if they want
> > to
> > make it a oficial Gnome program.
> > Conclusion is,
> > before thinking into starting a software project for
> > Gnome, check first if it is already being made
> > outside
> > of Gnome and in GPL....and start creating the
> > gtk/Gnome version of it. You can even help the current
> > author to put a new feature you would like to see in
> > it.
> 
> Yes, we (Mandrake) think it's a good idea.
> 
> -- 
> MandrakeSoft          http://www.mandrakesoft.com/
> 			         	 --Chmouel
>