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List:       kde-debian
Subject:    Re: Control Center or separate application? Was: Kalternatives 0.2
From:       Dominique Devriese <dominique.devriese () student ! kuleuven ! ac ! be>
Date:       2004-01-04 16:31:47
Message-ID: 87hdzbsmj0.fsf () student ! kuleuven ! ac ! be
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Paul Mallach writes:

> On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 00:06:07 +0100, Dominique Devriese
> <dominique.devriese@student.kuleuven.ac.be> wrote:

>> Paul Mallach writes:
>>> I quite like that idea as well, but the Control Center is here
>>> right now and won't go away. I'm quite certain, that it will be
>>> reworked for next 3.3 release of KDE in one way or the other.
>> Just for reference, KControl is not here to stay.  I'm sure you
>> didn't mean this, but there is of course no reason why it could not
>> be significantly modified or even ( should the need and the better
>> alternative arise ) replaced in KDE 4 and above.

> Just for the record: I meant the framework, not the current
> implementation of the user interface. I wanted to make the point,
> that creating something totally new is useless and that out
> configuration modules should be KCModules, even if this means a
> little more work that just building separate applications.

Ack

>> What I would like to see is an application that gets rid of the
>> ugly left navigation pane, to replace it with a more browser-like
>> feel.  I imagine a KControl showing a list of pretty big icons with
>> cursive, gray text next to them, like its Windows competition.  If
>> you click one of the options, you would either be shown the entire
>> KCM full-screen, or, if you clicked on a sub-category, get to a
>> similar screen like the first showing you the subentries.  There
>> would be a back/forward button for navigation and such.  I think we
>> should try to do this with minimal changes to the API ( existing
>> KCModule's need to continue working properly ).  I have read some
>> of the discussions about KControl on kde-usability and other
>> places, and it seems a lot of people have similar views on the
>> future KControl, I hope it gets fixed in the future KDE versions.
> That was my point: The CC framework is here to stay and just about
> everything that has been proposed here could be implemented by
> adding a new view mode in kcontrol and maybe adding some new
> attributed to the .desktop files. 

Ack

> Please note, that there are a lot of people as well who seem to love
> the current Tree View.

Are there ?  It seems like a horrible anachronicity a usability
disaster to me.

>> About this discussion, I'd like to add the following points:
>>
>> 1. KControl, KCModules etc. are part of a public API, and this
>>    means
>> that KDE will definitely not change things in a way that will make
>> older third-party KControl Modules unusable.  This can only be done
>> for KDE 4, KDE 3.x policy does simply not allow such a
>> change. period.  This doesn't mean that nothing can be changed,
>> just that we have to design the changes such that this is not
>> necessary.  I think this is possible.
> Yes. To implement the Ark-Linux view for example you would just have
> to add description tags to the .desktop files for the directories
> and add "X-KDE-Priority" or something like that to indicate
> important modules that should be mentioned in the left pane as
> "Quick Tasks". Then all the information needed is available and will
> be translated by the KDE team. Oh, and actually add the code for
> this new view to KControl. :-)

Ack, this seems pretty doable.  We should get to it after the 3.2
freeze ( and my exams ;) ).

>>> Maybe someone should contact the Control Center maintainer
>>> molkentin@kde.org and ask him, what his plans are and if he would
>>> accept patches that make the big changes that are required. I'm
>>> not quite sure, where these should be discussed (kde-usability?)
>> I don't think you can ask someone "We'd like to make a lot of
>> changes to your app, we're not really sure what they are yet, how
>> they would be implemented, or who would do it, but would you accept
>> them ?".
> No, but you could check if he already has plans for post 3.2
> development.  He probably has a lot more insight into the requests
> people have made for the future. I didn't want to get a charter (is
> this the word?) to do what I want, I just wanted to check if he
> thinks that big changes (in the UI!)  will be feasible.

Right, sorry, I misunderstood you then, this seems like a good idea,
will you be contacting him ?  I've checked the KDE 3.3 feature plan,
but nothing is planned in this direction AFAICT.


Note: a discussion about the Control Center just started on
kde-usability, maybe you and/or others want to follow it.

cheers
domi
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