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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: [Scim-devel] Proposal: unified input method/keyboard layout
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () kde ! org>
Date:       2006-12-12 17:23:04
Message-ID: 200612121023.05082.aseigo () kde ! org
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On Tuesday 12 December 2006 9:38, Simon Hausmann wrote:
> I'm not sure if portability is important here. Windows and OS X do provide
> an input method framework as well as actual input methods. I think IMBUS is
> much more interesting as platform specific API for the free software
> desktop.

there are two parts to this:

 - the API that applications use to do Cool, Useful and Funky Things
 - the applications that consume the API

so, for instance, if we want KWord to, like MS Word, automagically switch IM 
based on locale when started we need a nice, simple x-platform API for it to 
call into. on linux/unix i assume we'd concentrate on targeting something 
like IMBUS directly, much as Solid pretty well concentrates thus far on 
HAL/DBUS. so, that's the first part.

the second part are things like the panel applet and other bits of the IM 
interface. these are certainly not needed, as you rightfully note, on 
win/mac. they would go into kdebase/workspace and not care too much about 
portability outside of x.org/unix world.

we still have the future-proofing issue (hello, aRts!) and ABI concerns (hello 
OpenSSL!) but let's assume those are non-issues here for sake of discussion. 
we'll still want a useful API that will travel with our applications that are 
portable, unless we don't care to add such features to our apps other than IM 
specific code.

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

Full time KDE developer sponsored by Trolltech (http://www.trolltech.com)

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