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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: Fwd: Re: KDE 3.1
From:       Joseph Wenninger <jowenn () bigfoot ! com>
Date:       2002-03-29 17:51:33
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Hi

>
> It is the purpose of a GUI to hide the technical details like that the
> current CD-RW drives still need an iso image etc.
>

I've to admit, that this is true

>
> Part of the simplicity of Unix came from the concept that everything is a
> file.

And small helper applications for different tasks, not huge 
rev_i18n("Eierlegende Wollmilchsäue")

>
> The simplicity and power of KDE comes from the fact that everything is an
> URL/URI.
>

I don't think so. A common GUI (Look&Feel) is the power of KDE, not that 
everything is an URL, that's not interesting for a user. I've seen lot of 
windows users, who had problems understanding the audiocd:// url/slave, 
because they had to enter something like audiocd://?dev=/dev/scd0, ... or 
something like that (I haven't looked at it either for a long time). There is 
simply a GUI missing, which lets you choose, which of the existing drives you 
want to use. (Could be that this has been added in the meantime).

>
> There is no reason to use an extra program and a specialized UI for ftp
> because from a users point of view an ftp directory is just another
> directory with arbitrary files.
>

I still use mc or ftp, for my ftp access/transfers, but that doesn't count, 
since I'm a developer and no user in most cases.

>
> Basically a GUI is not a graphical representation of the underlying API but
> a solution for the users need. All the complexity of the actual handling of
> the devices shall be hidden.

That's true, but I tried to create a complete konqy integration for kreatecd a 
long time ago and gave up, because I haven't found a clean solution for 
representing a project in a directory metapher. If you drag a file to a cdr:/ 
url, how do you distingish eg, if  should be recorded as an audio cd, as an 
data cd with files or a video cd ?
You could create different directories eg: cdr:/audio, cdr:/vcd, cdr:/data, 
but that would be more confusing to the eg from Windows converted user, and 
even others, than it would bring a clean solution. If you don't map it as a 
directory, but provide a complete gui, than it's the same as if it would be 
an external application.

How would you make it configurable, if it would be a unix/windows isofs, the 
name of the iso image? track managment ? ......

Kind regards
Joseph Wenninger

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