Re: GConf vs. bonobo-config

[Daniel Veillard <veillard redhat com>]

On Sat, Jun 16, 2001 at 01:09:53AM -0400, Miguel de Icaza wrote:
[...]
> GConf has a number of problems in my mind:
> 
> 	* Another C API that needs to be wrapped.

Can you (or someone else) explains what is inherently bad with a C API ?
I assume the opinion taken here is that it need to be wrapped to be used
by Bonobo. I understand that Gconf is a configuration system interface.
If this is the case it should be a low level API IMHO so it is reusable
without the need to stack up too many layers of code to be able to read
configuration options.

> Bonobo-Conf begun as an idea to reuse the same Bonobo interfaces we
> had on the system and integrate those with the moniker system.  A lot
> has been discussed about having "GUI editors" for GConf values, which
> is yet another task to implement.  By using Bonobo, you can use the
> same Property Editors that you can use for Property Bags to edit your
> configuration databases.

  An it seems you *have to* use Bonobo for any access too. This is a very
significant shift in the API level.

> I encourage people to read the bonobo-conf source code to better
> appreciate its beauty (both conceptually and as an implementation)

  The beauty of the code lives in its usefulness too. Isn't that decision
making really hard (or tricky) to read the configuration options when not
coding on top of Bonobo ?
  I understand that you want to see a programming shift for more reuse
of the component system, I agree it helps writing apps, but pieces of
code at a lower level may need access to a lower API for configuration
options. Sounds to me the API is more useful if written in C with CORBA
and Bonobo interfaces on top of it (i.e. wrappers as Havoc says).

   peace,

Daniel

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Daniel Veillard      | Red Hat Network http://redhat.com/products/network/
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