Re: SOC: Nautilus DBus interface

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On Tue, 2009-03-17 at 01:53 -0700, Trevor Davenport wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am interested in applying for a GSoC project related to nautilus.
> Specifically i was considering a nautilus DBus interface as listed on
> the ideas page (http://live.gnome.org/SummerOfCode2009/Ideas).  From
> the bug report linked, it looks as if the goal would be to at least
> provide a means to:
> 
> - opening new windows
> - file operations (copying/moving/deleting/renaming)
>   * one goal here would be so other apps can benefit from the nautilus
> file operations window
> - file selection
>    * select certain files (let firefox/epiphany open window with file
> selected, not just the folder)
>    * track file selection
> 
> Other possible ideas:
>  - file properties window
>  - nautilus metadata access (currently private only)
>     * add emblems to files (epiphany could mark newly downloaded files
> with new emblem)
>     * set custom icons for folders/files

Seems like a sensible list.

One other person has also expressed interest in this:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/nautilus-list/2009-March/msg00035.html

In my replies I listed some other functions that would be nice to have.

> One concern i have is in regards to the amount of work vs time.  Do
> you think this project will provide adequate work to occupy the
> project timeframe or is the work about too much to be considered in
> one project?  I also wonder where exactly the line should be drawn
> between what to expose over dbus and what to omit.  I imagine we'd
> only want operations that are considered useful and have a purpose in
> exposing.

Its really hard for me to say, it all depends on how well you already
know some of the things and how easy you have to learn new stuff. Its
unlikely to be too much work, but if its enought to occupy the timeframe
I can't tell. It seems like a pretty small project to me, but then I
have 10 years of experience in the codebase so it is hard for me to make
an estimate for someone else.