Re: Regarding possible inclusion of gnome-isp-dialer

[danilo gnome org (Danilo Šegan)]

Hi Zoran,

Yesterday at 3:57, Zoran Rilak wrote:

> my name is Zoran Rilak.  I'm a student at the Faculty of Organizational
> Sciences in Belgrade.  I have some questions about the possible
> inclusion of my project into the GNOME Desktop Environment.  First off,
> I hope this list is the right place to start; if not, please be so kind
> and redirect me to the proper mailing list.

You might also want to check out gnome-ppp: http://gnome-ppp.org/

FWIW, Vlada (Gnome PPP author) is also Serbian, and it seems
indicative that anyone around here starts with developing PPP dialer
software :) 

> 	I've worked for some time on an application called gppp which was
> heavily based (more like a GTK+ clone than anything else) on kppp; a GTK
> +-based user-interface for Point-to-Point Protocol Daemon (pppd).

Ok, this is different from gnome-ppp in that gnome-ppp is actually
wvdial frontend, but it provides the same functionality.  This would,
of course, be considered a plus for gnome-isp-dialer, since it would not
require installing wvdial (and that's currently the biggest complaint
people have about gnome-ppp).

Yet, as Murray said, it belongs in Gnome System Tools actually, and
it would be best if it integrated with the system's PPP configuration
(i.e. I'd want to still be able to use "pppd call" on a system which
otherwise configures PPP that way).

> 	Lately I've dropped work on gppp and started aiming towards complete
> GNOME compliance.  The project is still far from being completed 

I think something can be proposed for Gnome inclusion only if it has
already been developed.  There's always a lot of work to do (i18n,
a11y, docs) even after the proposal, so it'd be hard to debate on the
inclusion of software which is not yet near completion.

> The list of ISP's is maintained via a separate application, gnome-isp-
> list, which will provide:

This definitely belongs in Gnome System Tools.  FWIW, I think GST
already provides something like that, which also cooperates with
system PPP settings.

>     I was wondering what was the general idea about the need for such an
> application in GNOME.  

That kind of application is highly desireable: easy connection to
Internet is one of primary goals of desktop that just works, and such
application is one step ahead for many users.

Targetting pppd directly is a big plus (IMO), but I'd say that
reusing Gnome System Tools (which are officially part of Gnome since
2.8) is very much needed.

I'm certain Carlos Garnacho (GST maintainer) would be happy to help
with making use of GST facilities.  Also, I think a lot of work has
already gone into gnome-ppp (UI, usability reviews, translation) that
it would be a shame if it was wasted.

Cheers,
Danilo