wvdial (was: Re: [lug] config modem w/ mandrake7.2)

[Holshouser, David]

actually this works with the idea of individual config apps. 
The author of the package should write a config tool for their app and
register it with a 'control panel'
The author could use the same code to parse the config file in both the real
app and the config app.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: J. Wayde Allen [mailto:wallen at lug.boulder.co.us]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 4:49 PM
> To: lug at lug.boulder.co.us
> Subject: RE: wvdial (was: Re: [lug] config modem w/ mandrake7.2)
> 
> 
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2001, Holshouser, David wrote:
> 
> > how about GUI configurator apps that read the config file 
> just like the real
> > app does, know about all options that the app can handle, 
> and provide (in
> > some way) a way to modify (imagine sendmail, DAMN!!!) the 
> settings such that
> > they appear to act as if they opened an editor an 
> manipulated the files. 
> > 
> > As long as the syntax is correct in the config file, 
> meaning that the real
> > app can open it, then the GUI config app can read the file 
> and you get to do
> > it the way you choose. 
> 
> I like this, but one problem is that /etc doesn't have a 
> specific set of
> pre-defined config files.  It is simply a convenient place 
> for programmers
> to locate a configuration database for their software.  
> Trying to write
> one all encompassing program that knows what to do with all of the
> possible config files is probably not possible.
> 
> So ... here is a crazy idea.  How about making a graphical 
> configuration
> program that allows new programs to somehow register information about
> their configuration?  
> 
> I'm not sure I'm saying this clearly, and actually haven't 
> thought this
> through very carefully so take if for what its worth.  Maybe a package
> level configuration standard gets created.  This would probably be
> something that the package maintainer would put together.  
> The idea being
> that if you used apt, rpm, whatever to install this package 
> it would also
> install a graphical configuration tool that could/would 
> register itself
> with a program that would provide a common jumping off point for the
> multiple GUI interfaces.  Maybe this is nothing more than a 
> web interface,
> and packages just provide a local URL link to a config form.
> 
> Maybe this is the underlying idea behind linuxconf, and/or 
> perhaps some of
> the pieces already exist in Gnome?  The difficulty is in how to do
> something like this well?  I don't think we want /etc to 
> start behaving
> like the MSWindows registry for instance.
> 
> - Wayde
>   (wallen at lug.boulder.co.us)
> 
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