Re: [GnomeMeeting-devel-list] SIP and GnomeMeeting - please comment

[Kilian Krause <kk verfaction de>]

Hi Damien,

-(snip)-
DS> Now the problem.
ok, let's have a peek at it =)

DS> ---

DS> If we add SIP support to GnomeMeeting, it will add complexity. There
DS> will be:

DS> * preferences common to both H.323 and SIP (Personal Data, Audio
DS> Devices, Video Devices, Audio codecs, Video codecs, ILS). 
DS> * H.323-only preferences (Gatekeeper, Fast Start Tunneling)
DS> * SIP-only preferences (SIP Proxy = same notion as a gatekeeper iirc)

so far so normal.. there's almost nothing to argueue against or for
that, as it's a technical thing we have to deal with...


DS> Usability people would tell it is bad because normal users don't have to
DS> know what is SIP and H.323. But well, I plan to add those preferences in
DS> an Advanced category, so that only experienced users play with those
DS> settings.

well, the other opportunity would be a wrapper to tune "bad -
not_so_bad - normal - better - best" connection quality, and this
would set options for h323 and sip from some internal table.. although
this would solve the problem of the usability, i guess it would make
users call gm a "stupid app", as they can't configure each option,
which is what most linux-users want (at least i would want to be able
to tune without hacking source - unless it's perfect without user
intervention, which would be best anyway ;)).. so even if we have that
kind of setting, the expert options is a must, IMHO...


DS> The URL format is nearly the same for H.323 and SIP:
DS> - [alias ]hostname if you are not registered to a gatekeeper/SIP proxy
DS> - alias[ hostname] if you are registered to a gatekeeper/SIP proxy

DS> Now the real problem is that when the user wants to call another user,
DS> he has to choose a protocol for calling him. If we choose SIP as default
DS> protocol in GnomeMeeting v2.0, the user will use sip:// URL's by default
DS> and we will have to tell him that if he wants to call old gnomemeeting's
DS> or Netmeeting's, then he has to use an h323:// URL instead of a sip://
DS> URL.

DS> What do you think of that? Too complex?

hmm, how about this:
- have a "default protocol" in the prefs, which is either of them both
- use callto:// with that protocol and try to fallback to the
  remaining one, if connection fails
- have h323:// and sip:// for distinct protocol seletion..


DS> If we keep ILS we can automate that by looking at the sappid:
DS> - Netmeeting or old GnomeMeeting user => h323
DS> - GnomeMeeting user => sip

the below one should read GMv2 user, i guess ;)

DS> Another problem is that if user Alain registers to the same gatekeeper
DS> than user Damien, doing 
DS> sip://Alain will not work
DS> h323://Alain will work
DS> Because the Gatekeeper is an H.323 thing, not an SIP thing. But we can
DS> suppose that only advanced users are using H.323 Gatekeepers or SIP
DS> proxies, and that they know what it is.

well, see above for common callto:// or maybe gm:// uri-style.. this
way even Alain could have h323 enabled xdap with using sip if he'd
want to.. or will there be an integration of some IM-directory for
that purpose?

DS> The manual will become complex.

that's no news ;) it always will be if you deal with all possible
situations ;)


DS> Another direction that GM will take, is that we won't rely on GNOME
DS> libraries for things we can do without them. Minimizing the dependancies
DS> will be our main goal.

sounds great ;)

..hope this helps.. but, just my 2 ct. ;)

-- 
Cheers,
 Kilian