Re: Gnome dialer (was : [gnome-love] Contribution to Gnome)

[Iain <iain ximian com>]

> So this dialer when launched should pop up a box with the list of ppp conections configured
> in the system. It should have 2 buttons a connect one and a configure one. If configured is
> clicked it will launch the XST network configurator dialog to set up the dialing parameters,
> if connect is clicked, it will (you guessed it right) do an equivalent of ifup pppX, forking
> a ifup is not good enough since we need to track the ppp conection after it goes down and 
> monitor bytes transmited, etc. 

This is done by reading some environment variables that pppd sets. Don't
remember which ones though, it should be in man pppd.

> (I think it includes a modified version of wvdial inside it)

Thats what I started to do. I made wvdial into a shared library. I
didn't get very far :)


> Let me know if you are interested and I can discuss more details about it. The trick here is to have
> a simple, small, first implementation as soon as possible and get it out there soon. Then start doing
> releases often.
>
> There is a HUGE users need for something like this, so this project has a good chance of taking
> of fast.

See, I think what is needed more than a ppp dialer (given that there are
some that seem ok, gnome-ppp or gppp, don't recall the homepage). What I
think we need is a Bonobo based ppp dialer, so that applications can go
online/offline as they wish. Here's an example.

Evolution and Galeon both use this mythical dialer. Evolution is
offline, so no mails are being downloaded. I start up Galeon and I
really need to read sluggy.com. So I type www.sluggy.com into the
browser and it tells me I need to dial up. I click okay and the dialer
pops into life and brings up the connection. At this point, the bonobo
stuff notifies every other program thats listening to the dialer that
there is now a connection. Evolution automatically goes online and
starts downloading emails. At the end of Evolution downloading emails it
asks "Download finished, go offline?" I click yes and Evolution tells
the dialer to close the ppp connection. The dialer complies and then
notifies all the applications that there is no longer a ppp connection.
Galeon hears the notify, goes back offline and starts using the cached
pages.

Thats just one use that a bonobo based ppp dialer would have.

iain
-- 
Hope (n): The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a
future 
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