[Kde-pim] configuration in akonadi-next

[Marc Deop Argemí]

On Friday 19 December 2014 06:51:10 Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> On Thursday, December 18, 2014 22.14:11 Ingo Klöcker wrote:
> 
> Given the contents of akonadi/kontact configuration files, containing useful
> things like IDs that exist in the mysql database, entries like:
> 
> State=AAAA/wAAAAD9AAAAAAAADIAAAAaTAAAABAAAAAQAAAAIAAAACPwAAAADAAAAAgAAAAEAAA
> AWAG0AYQBpAG4AVABvAG8AbABCAGEAcgEAAAAA/////wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgAAAAEAAAAWAGgAdA
> BtAGwAVABvAG8AbABCAGEAcgAAAAAA/////wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgAAAAEAAAAgAGQAaQByAGUAYw
> B0AGkAbwBuAFQAbwBvAGwAQgBhAHIAAAAAAP////8AAAAAAAAAAA==
> 
> and
> 
> Expansion=c79,c95,c129,c8,c16,c12,c17,c62
> HeaderState=\x00\x00\x00ÿ\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x0
> 0\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x04\x0e\x00\x0
> 0\x00\x03\x00\x00\x00\x03\x00\x00\x00d\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x00\x00d\x00\x00\
> x00\x01\x00\x00\x00d\x00\x00\x01P\x00\x00\x00\x04\x01\x01\x00\x01\x00\x00\x0
> 0\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00dÿÿÿÿ\x00\x00\x00<81>\x00\x00\x00\x00\x
> 00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x00\x01P\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\
> x00\x00\x00\x03\x00\x00\x00\x00
> 
> and
> 
> FavoriteCollectionIds=7,55

Maybe the problem is precisely that these kind of things should *not* be in a 
configuration file.

> 
> when was the last time you use sed, grep, or awk on those files in a
> meaningful action as a user?

Not those tools, but looking at the configuration files or editing them... quite 
often

> 
> I'd love to be able to query the configuration system for what collections 7
> and 55 are, but they are text files so good #($*ing luck on that. I'd love
> for those values to have some referential integrity to ensure they don't
> drift off from the values they represent, but they are text files so good
> #$(*ing luck with that too.
> 

Again, the problem is that these kind of things should not be in a *config* file

> The whole idea that storage optimized for vim/emacs/kate is useful in the
> least with something like Akonadi/Kontact is out of touch with the reality
> of what is contained therein.
> 
> It is also out of touch with the reality of the user base, of which 0% have
> ever used a text processing tool to do anything useful to those
> configuration files. Technically, it's more than 0%, but I figure accurate
> down to a few decimal places is close enough. Do Kontact's text file
> configs benefit users? Nope. If anything, they are a mess.

I really hate this tendency towards thinking that the end users is an "idiot". 

> 
> We should pick the best tools for the specific job at hand, with user
> benefit in mind, rather than stick to some blind ideal. That may indeed
> mean storing data in text files, but it may well not.

For me it's not an ideal, it's a fact. Whenever I face a new software I rather 
have a clear configuration file which I can read with whatever I want rather 
than having to learn *yet another tool* to read/modify the settings. ( I don't 
even want to get started on what happens when the tool you are supposed to use 
to edit something doesn't f***** work due to some error/bug.... )

> 
> > And please spare me talking about efficiency.
> 
> I agree, it isn't about efficiency. I'm much more concerned about things
> like replication (e.g. between a central configuration server and local
> systems), 

Like it's not easy to handle remote text files from a central system?

> application consistency

I don't quite understand this example

> and control (loosely structured text
> files tend to be a PITA for performing version-mandated updates compared to
> a storage format that has a corresponding query language) 

The problem is the "loosely", not the text

> and management
> (e.g. backups). 

Are you saying that backing up text files is complicated? Or managing text 
files?

> For all their text glory, these are three things that
> akonadi/Kontact's configuration do not score high on. Text files are not as
> amazing as some people make them out to be in these use cases.

And I can say that "binary formats are not as amazing as some people  make 
them out to be in these use cases"

I will say it once: please, keep the text format for the configuration files

Best regards,

Marc Deop
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