Re: Hamster and Gnome 3.0

[Toms <toms baugis gmail com>]

Hey Ross, thanks for your input. Answers in-line.


> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Ross Smith <myxiplx googlemail com>
> To: hamster-applet-devel-list gnome org
> Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 09:08:14 +0100
> Subject: Hamster and Gnome 3.0
> Hi guys,
>
> I've just heard about Hamster and Gnome 3.0, and wanted to ask if you
> had any thoughts about integrating hamster with gnome 3.0?

"integrating with gnome 3.0" sounds a little buzzwordy.
in essence, we will adapt, because there is no other way to survive.
if gnome shell opens hamster opportunity to be in center - we will use
it. if not, well, big deal, we will find how to get on desktop anyway.


> 1. Task tracking by workspace name
> Allow me to link a workspace with an activity, and have hamster start
> and stop that activity as I switch to and from that workspace.

might happen, patches are welcome. there is bug in bugzilla.


> 2. Task tracking by program
> Some tasks aren't going to need their own workspace, so workspace 1
> will for me be for miscellaneous tasks.  It might be handy to be able
> to associate certain programs with certain tasks, and again have
> hamster track my usage automatically.

won't happen. that is the other approach. configuring it is one thing,
going through reports is other.
with "won't happen" i mean won't happen unless somebody comes up with
patches that implement the thing in a way i can not imagine. me
myself, i'm more into manual tracking than breadcrumbing logs.

>
> 3. Keyword tracking
> I'm not so sure how well this will work, but we're going to be using a
> web based helpdesk system, with ticket tracking.  I can see hamster
> being useful with this, so I wonder if it might be possible to have
> hamster look for certain keywords and create and manage tasks
> automatically based on them.
>
> ie:  When I create a new ticket, it will create a new firefox window,
> with a title like 'ticket 2478'.  It would be good if hamster could
> detect that, create a new activity if needed (based around the ticket
> number), and start tracking.  It can then keep tracking regardless of
> the program I use until I either switch to another workspace, open
> another ticket, or manually change the task.

in some cases this indeed might make sense. complications that this
might bring into hamster are much more expensive than the benefit
gained though (80-20 case, see Pareto principle)

>
> I really think the combination of those could make for a really
> seamless activity tracking system.

i'd prefer conscious tracking system more than a seamless one, because
when one forgets to track, it will inevitably lead to rubbish data.

Ta-dah!
Monday is here, have fun!

Toms