[Kde-hardware-devel] GSoC, we can't miss it this time!

[todd rme]

On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 12:26 PM, Alex Fiestas <afiestas at kde.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 11:40 AM, todd rme <toddrme2178 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 1. Multiple input devices for shortcuts.  Currently only keyboards can
>> provide shortcut events.  Other input devices like mice, remotes, and
>> voice cannot integrate as deeply with KDE, and it is hard to use
>> shortcuts that combine devices (like mouse+keyboard).  However, there
>> is an opportunity with frameworks to rework the global accelerator
>> classes.  The goal of this project would be to rework the classes into
>> a device-agnostic system where plugins provide generic events which
>> the global accelerator then maps to actions.  The project would also
>> require making at least one plugin (the keyboard plugin).
> There was somebody already working on this within KDE, from my point
> of view this is
> something an experience person should do because we will have to modify Qt

The modifications to Qt are done, all that is left now is on the KDE side.

>> 2. iPod/iPhone kio slave.  Work is already underway for an mtp kio
>> slave to make it easy to seamlessly browse mtp devices in the file
>> manager and provide consistent access to apps like amarok and digikam
>> (which currently use their own implementations).  The purpose of this
>> project would be to do the same for apple devices using the
>> ipod/iphone protocol.  This would provide considerably better ipod and
>> iphone support than even apple offers.
> Good point ! maybe we can call this project "Android and IPhone" support so we
> can cover more ground, writting a kio_ios doesn't seem to be a 3month task.

The problem is the android one is already done.  What about making the
kio slave and porting amarok and digikam to use the android and iphone
kio slaves instead of their own implementations?

>> 3. Generic remote device (smartphone) notification framework.  Lots of
>> people use smartphones these days.  The idea of this project would be
>> to create a generic framework for sending and recieving notifications
>> over a network, bluetooth, and USB.  This would then be paired with an
>> application on a smartphone (or perhaps another computer) to allow
>> sending notifications between the devices.  The project would probably
>> involve making the desktop side and at least one smartphone app for
>> the student's smartphone os of choice.
> Mmm not sure this exactly fits Solid, it is an interesting topic
> (actually i wrote something together
> with ereslibre called androidshine with does that) but not exactly
> solid material.

Yeah, I wasn't sure.

>> 4. Print job kio slave.  The purpose of this project would be to
>> create a kio slave for printing and print job management.  Users would
>> be able to view the list of print jobs, see their status, delete them,
>> and drop files into the file view to print them.  Being able to drag
>> fils out to get a pdf or ps version of the printout would also be
>> nice.
> I can ask dantti to make this part of his GSoC (Project: Finishing and
> Polishing Printing support) it sounds
> like an awesome idea to me!

Great!

>> 5 Scanner kio slave.  An easy scanner interface using file managers
>> (like the current CD ripper kio slave).  There would be a folder for
>> each scanner.  When the folder is opened it will pull in a preview
>> from that scanner.  There would then be folders for supported
>> resolutions, with individual files for common paper sizes, the whole
>> scanner area, auto-detected pictures (i.e. if you can multiple
>> pictures at the same time) and, if available, text files for OCR.
>> Dragging one of these to the filesystem will trigger a full scan with
>> those settings.
> I have no idea about scan or if people actually have more than one,
> maybe we can ask current kde
> scanner software maintainers for advice?

That might be a good idea.  I know kooka always asks what scanner you
want to use when you start it up, even if you only have one installed.
 You can turn it off, but by default it always asks.  Maybe the kio
slave could jump right into the scanner folder if there is only one
connected, and show you a list if there is more than one?

-Todd