Having external control panels in System settings

[Petko <pditchev gmail com>]

Hello , I'm Petko Ditchev , and for the purposes of this thread I'm a 
casual user (given I have some programming background).
    I'm writing here because I really think there's a problem with the 
new direction of development for G-C-C - having all external 
applications/extentions/whatever have to be approved and implemented 
upstream . In short - I think that's an impossible concept for all linux 
platforms .
    Btw on my way here I read the thread discussing the issue in May 
last year and I'll be giving some references to it.
    Bare with me now - what are "System settings" ? Well ,given GNOME 
is a desktop environment and it has for a platform linux systems (as 
Ubuntu for ex.) , the user (I think I'm a pretty good representative for 
one) uses System settings to configure various aspects of the system . I 
personally expect to be able to find all the configuration tools needed 
exactly there.

 So here's the first point I want to make - System settings isn't a 
configuration menu for GNOME , because GNOME isn't an operating system . 
If you do not want to deal with anything else than GNOME settings in 
this panel - you should call it "configure GNOME" or something like that 
, and that would be integrated in a System settings panel.

 So if there's no objections that System settings(SS from now on) 
should serve the whole system - let's see what's there in the whole 
system . Do you know all of the components - no you do not , kind 
gentlemen . Actually there's a programmer somewhere that's coding a 
system component right now , that will be released and will not show up 
in G-C-C for some time because of "connection problems" (if someone's 
been in the London subway - you know that "connection problems" means 
bad news if you're late) . For me the beauty of the linux system is that 
it has various components , which you can change and fix and do 
whatever. Now the problem is that the stated principle doesn't seem 
available in GCC does it?

   Still the idea has apparently arisen that there should be no "crap" 
in the SS . OK , we want pretty looks , we want no bugs addressed at us 
from problems with third party apps . But do you think you're better 
suited to deal with  coding and updating Each and Every One of the 
system components , than to make a unified look regardless of third 
party enteries and some redirecting of bugreports ?
 If you hate external control panels so badly - then just tag them as 
external (it's not really elegant but they're still there until a 
solution comes up to integrate them) and put them on bottom (or in a 
spoler-type-menu or whatever) .

 Here's a reference or two from the previous discussion:
Devs want "moving GNOME away from the "bucket of parts" model" 
(paraphrasing from 
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2011-May/msg00158.html) . 
Well yes that would be great but it's not doable , not fully , not in 
linux . Hell even GNOME is a part in the bucket that the OS is and it 
depends on universal standards (and not designer permission) to run (for 
some part).

 Here's another reference - Dave says the OSs will ,at one point, start 
coding their own control centers 
(http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2011-May/msg00164.html) 
. More shockingly both (probably developers) that reply don't see or 
don't care that this is as step in the wrong direction for GNOME .

 I put this much effort into the issue because I generally like the 
GNOME project , and as it is (as far as I know) a community maintained 
open source project, I believe a user should be able with common sense 
to act in the development process , so that's also a test of concept .

Best regards ,
Petko Ditchev