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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: KAdmin
From:       Frans Englich <frans.englich () telia ! com>
Date:       2004-07-31 23:56:57
Message-ID: 200407312356.57343.frans.englich () telia ! com
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On Saturday 31 July 2004 23:23, Benjamin Meyer wrote:
> On Saturday 31 July 2004 7:02 pm, Frans Englich wrote:
> > For long buzzed about is KAdmin, similar to KControl but
> > does only contain server administration functionality(which KControl have
> > in addition to user preferences), and has KParts as content instead of
> > KCModules.
> > KAdmin would have kernel configuration, boot manager,  "pseudo modules"
> > linking to web admin interfaces, kuser, KIOSK(no, that's nothing you need
> > as a regular user) -- all integrated under one roof. KAdmin would
> > typically be installed on servers only.
> >
> >
> > Why is KAdmin needed and what problems does it solve?
> >
> > * Administration software is more than simple configuration options --
> > it's a working area. Some understandable needs toolbars, menus and so
> > forth, and have tried implementing it in KCModules(QWidget) and it
> > doesn't work -- it's like squeezing an elephant through a key hole.
> > Administration functionality needs the flexibility KParts offers; a
> > widget in a dialog is insufficient.
>
> Just curious if you can list some specific examples ( no matter how small )
> of how kcm didn't work and couldn't live up to what was needed.

Sure, I'll try. Pupeno's User KCM(currently not in the KDE repository?) had 
this problem -- it needed toolbars. Other than that, I'll use a theoretical 
argument which covers the future need(which will emerge if we want 
server-side configuration, the "enterprise desktop" inside KDE):

In preference dialogs the main point is configuration option, which current 
mechanisms covers well: KCMultidialog, a plain QWidget more or less. When the 
traditional noun/verb model is used(you select your text, and then your 
action such as 'cut') it have risen to a new level which toolbars/menus and 
so forth are designed to handle. It could be a selection of user accounts, a 
routing table, for example. 
With administration, the GUI can reach the complexity far greater than simple 
configuration options -- it's not configuration, it's working with data. 
Admin stuff lies in the gray zone -- KCModule can be enough, but also 
restraining. A KCM->KParts proxy could be used, but it's probably easier to 
convert existing to KParts instead.
The other way is overgrown KCModules(works bad) squeezed into KControl(which 
also would work bad) or tons of small apps("LDAP configuration", "routing 
tables" etc.)

It should also be remembered the limitation of KCModule is not the only reason 
for KAdmin, as argued in the initial message.


			Frans




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