Re: [GnomeMeeting-devel-list] GM 3.00, big changes, already partly introduced in 2.00

[Julien PUYDT <jpuydt free fr>]

Damien Sandras a �it :

> Here is the list of use cases for GnomeMeeting :
> 1) I want to call a friend using his phone number via a PC-To-Phone
> provider OR I'm a corporate user who wants to call somebody's real
> phone. I need to enter an URL.
>
> 2) I want to call an online friend. I don't want to have to remember his
> address, so I can put him in my address book. I would like to see if he
> is online or not. LDAP is not well-suited for that as it is not
> real-time. Jabber is well-suited. I just want to double-click on him.
> The URL will be put in the URL bar and the call will begin.
>
> The URL will be known because either we have associated to the user when
> adding it to the address book, or because he is publishing it (through
> Jabber for example).
>
>  
IMNSHO the url is something people shouldn't see if they didn't type it 
themselves.

> So having a contacts list for your favorites, and the address book for
> the yellow pages (ILS) and for the contacts you do not call so often
> (phone number of the police, phone number of the talking clock, ...) is
> definitely required.
>
> Having a system to see if the user is online is also required. That can
> be done later through jabber. The contacts list can be extended to
> support Jabber contacts, with a small phone icon next to their nickname
> if they accept H.323 or SIP calls.
>
>  
Things get messy when you have ils, jabber and phone number for a same 
contact. Or worse, several of each of those for a same contact...

> The URL bar needs to stay to be able to call other people and phone
> numbers than the ones that are in your address book and in your contacts
> list.
>  
I agree it should be easy to make a call with a phone number. But 
putting the url "at the center" of gnomemeeting doesn't sound like a 
good idea.

> Here is the proposed design for GnomeMeeting 2.00 (which won't support
> jabber except through GOSSIP, because of the lack of time and of
> developers).
>  
Gossip needs some work at the moment, but from some blogs I know M.H. 
and M.R. have some time to pour on it now, so things should improve :-)

> * The Fav. tab will contain a sort of roster with 2 categories :
> - the SIP/H323/IAX/Jabber accounts, their status (online/offline) and
> the number of voicemails for each of them, if applicable
> - the contacts without online presence, just an association between a
> name and an url
> - the Jabber contacts, merged with those contacts without online
> presence, and organised in groups of contacts
>
>  
The merging is gonna be painful, as said above.

> When clicking on a contact, you will be able to text message him, except
> if he is an H.323 contact. It will only work for SIP and Jabber
> contacts.
>
> * The Dialpad tab will contain the dialpad.
>  

> * The current call tab will be invisible when there is no call, and
> visible when there is a call. It will display your remote contact and
> sliders to update your video and audio transmission settings
>  
Hiding/showing it doesn't sound good as along as only a single call can 
occur. It will make more sense to have magic tabs only when the 
possibility to put a call (or several) on hold to make/receive another 
will be added (I hope it will -- not that I have any use of it now).

> You will notice that the bottom of the UI still has an URL bar with the
> same connect/disconnect button. You will be able to enter URLs for less
> common contacts directly using that URL bar, for example, when using GM
> with Asterisk, and dialing random phone numbers. It will be a quick and
> efficient way to dial.
>  
The last line of a window is where I expect information to be given /to/ 
me ; generally not given /by/ me (emacs is a notable exception here...). :-/

> Q1: So, GnomeMeeting will finally become an INSTANT MESSENGER?
> A1: No, GM will not become an instant messenger supporting badly
> videochat and voip, it will be the opposite : a softphone supporting
> instant messenging.
>  
I'm still not sure it is a good idea to do too much in a single program 
(one tool for one job is a nice idea).

> Q2: Will it support proprietary protocols like MSN, Yahoo, SKYPE.
> A2: No, GM is a softphone, not an IM, and my little spare time doesn't
> allow me to spend nights on the reverse engineering of protocols that
> will surely change every 6 months. We also want quality VoIP and
> VideoChatting, not hacks.
>  
They change much more often, it seems. Open standards are the way to go!

> Q3: Will it be compatible with Windows?
> A3: It will be ported to Windows (anyone to help?). And it will support
> only STANDARD protocols, so the answer is yes.
>  
Please, if somebody could help...

> Q4: What will it be useful for, if it is not compatible with MSN or
> skype ?
> A4: It is a softphone, not an IM. Try to use Skype with an IPBX.
What are MSN and skype useful for? They aren't compatible with anything 
but themselves!

Snark

PS: I'll try to help as much as possible :-)