Re: mc/gmc project

[Pavel Roskin <proski gnu org>]

Hello!

> We are looking for a very good (an stable) file-manager for our
> environment. We want to use Gmc (Nautilus is so heavy ... and slower
> than Konqueror) but the development is no longer supported for Gmc. So,
> we want to continu the devel (add better multi-thread, correct some bugs
> etc.) There is someone who want to continue here?

Before you start coding, please consider following:

1) There are more file managers for GNOME than just GMC and Nautilus.  
Just search for "GNOME File Manager" and "Gtk File Manager" on
freshmeat.net.  One of them may be a better starting point for you.

2) Secure software should be developed with security in mind - one cannot
add security later.  As far aa I know, GMC wasn't developed with security
in mind.  It was developed as a temporary solution to get GNOME started.  
It was a quick hack on top of MC.

3) GMC is one of the oldest GNOME applications.  A lot of code needs to be
cleaned up to make it work well with the current GNOME API.  It may be
easier just to take the GNOME 2.0 API and write a file manager from
scratch.

4) GMC uses some code from MC that it shouldn't be using.  Thist causes
some unpleasant effects.  For example, keys cannot be redefined in GMC,
but you can redefine them in all modern GNOME applications.

5) I believe that C is not the best programming language for user
interfaces.  UI should be object oriented.  You can write object oriented
code in C, but the compiler won't be able to catch your errors, and most
importantly, errors of other contributors.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin