[kde-doc-english] Fwd: Re: device-automounter moved to kdereview

[Trever Fischer]

Sorry if this appears out of context in your thread lists, I didn't subscribe 
to the list in time and lost the thread messages.

Am Dienstag, 24. novembre 2009 03:11:15 schrieb Trever Fischer:
> > Hi, I'm trying to get a module moved out of kdereview into kdebase in time
> > for the hard feature freeze. What documentation would I need to write?
> > Just a few paragraphs explaining how to use it and then add screenshots
> > later?
> Yes just some plain text is fine, answering questions like:
> What is the use case for this kcm, limitations, sensible settings etc.

The use case is for a desktop user, who wants to have behavior similar to that 
of other desktop systems, where removable media is automatically mounted. In 
Windows for example, plugging in a device makes the files available instantly, 
since the device is mounted as soon as it can be. With KDE, you plug in a 
device, then you need to dig through hoops such as the sidebar in dolphin, the 
device notifier applet, or even the command line to get a device mounted. Very 
counter-intuitive and is just an annoying barrier.

You can really see the barrier with other apps such as openoffice, which don't 
know anything about removable media. Plugging in a USB drive means you are 
*required* to mount it outside of the app somehow before you can use it.

It also enables remounting devices at login. For instance, a user who uses the 
picture frame applet shouldn't have to remount the device at every login by 
hand when the picture is stored on some external storage medium.

Sensible settings for a normal, single-user desktop is to have all the 
checkboxes above the overrides list enabled. It is off by default because of 
the discussion in the kdereview thread for it about multi-user systems, for 
which disabling automounting is sensible. At least 'till I put some ConsoleKit 
magic into it, or another lower level system can figure this stuff out.

> What does "Device Overrides" mean, what is "overridden" here? The global
> settings obove the list?
Precisely. If a device has a check in some column, it overrides the 
corresponding item above if it is not checked. The only thing that overrides a 
device override is the big checkbox at the top that turns all kinds 
automounting on or off. If its off, nothing happens. Period.

> "Disconnected Devices", what will be listed here? Previously mounted 
devices?
> Forgotten devices?
Devices that are not attached to the system, but not forgotten, and regardless 
if they were previously mounted or not.

> "Forget Device", what does forget mean? No longer in the list? But still
> mounted?
A forgotten device means KDE won't try to automatically mount it if it is set 
to only automount devices it has seen mounted before (aka 'familiar'). The 
device will remain mounted if it is already mounted, since the KCM only deals 
with automatic mounting at login or insertion.

> How to get a forgotten device back?
Plug it in again. TBH I didn't consider this and it probably isn't tested but 
it'll be fixed after it gets into kdebase.

> Why should I forget a device?
You should forget a device when you either want to clean up old devices that 
haven't been seen in years, or the KDED is automatically mounting a device you 
mounted once (thus making it 'remembered') that don't want it to always mount.

-- 
Trever Fischer (tdfischer)
Fedora Ambassador, KDE Hacker
http://wm161.net
GPG: C40F2998 hkp://wwwkeys.pgp.net
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