[Kde-pim] configuration in akonadi-next

[Martin Steigerwald]

Am Freitag, 9. Januar 2015, 09:14:00 schrieb Aaron J. Seigo:
> > For binary-format config files you always need a special tool. For
> 
> Well, a hex editor is not a "special" tool. but if there is no real world, 
> actual benefit derived in actual practice, it doesn't matter (theory is
> worth  zero). so how many of our users edit their config files with a text
> editor? for those that do so: why do they do so? is that their first
> choice, or would they be better served by other means?

Oh, I edited a file like:

martin at merkaba:~> cat .config/akonadi/akonadiserverrc 
[%General]
Driver=QMYSQL

[QMYSQL]
Name=akonadi
Host=
Options="UNIX_SOCKET=/tmp/akonadi-martin.p16YJP/mysql.socket"
ServerPath=/usr/sbin/mysqld
StartServer=true

[Debug]
Tracer=null

often enough.

During my PostgreSQL backend usage quite sometime ago files I even needed to 
edit things, as the default path to some PostgreSQL binaries in there was 
incorrect for my setup.

Yeah, in Akonadiconsole you can configure Akonadi, but this is a developer 
tool.

Often enough during the long time of my KDE usage I fixed up various text based 
configuration files, even also Plasma related ones, as it forgot some settings 
or at some time got just that broken, that I wasn´t able to correct things 
with GUI anymore. Heck, and even kmailrc I edited at some time.

Granted, that has been sometime ago and things got better, and also granted, 
there can be a nice Akonadi server configuration KCM or some such, but still:

If at any time it would happen that I would need to edit the configuration with 
from Windows registry or gconf based tool, I would probably just switch the 
desktop and be done with it.

I have been very grateful that I was able to fix up things with text based 
configuration files, in case nothing else worked. Its one of the reasons I am, 
despite the huge breaking of things with KDE 4.0 and with KDEPIM + Akonadi 
which, to be honest, partly at least for some, is still quite broken, its one 
of the reasons I am still with KDE:

Cause I feel to be in control.

I want to control the software I use.

At the time I get the impression that the software I use tries to hide its 
configuration details away from me or at any point makes it any less accessible 
or at the time a nice command line based configuration spits out an error to me 
instead of just doing the change I requested, cause of some silly sanity check 
or what, I get the impression that the software tries to control me. And that 
would be a *huge* and *big* no-go. A no-go as in no-go.

Whether text based are suitable for everything? No, they aren´t. I gulped at 
Akonadi using a database at first, but it made quite some sense for me after a 
while. Whether KDEPIM contains binary-alike stuff in text based configuration 
files that may better be stored elsewhere, maybe. Or whether having one huge 
big file with all in one like kmailrc, or splitting things a bit more…

But for me that doesn´t speak against the general principle.

And frankly spoken: With Akonadi I already felt less in control than before. 
Look at what people do when things don´t work:

- Restart KMail
- Restart Akonadi
- rm -rf all of Akonadi from scratch and stuff like this.

Why do they do so?

I bet it is due to the following:

They don´t understand how the software works and they do not feel in control 
of it.

So please, if you propose any binary based configuration:

Make it accessible.

Big time.

Make it in a way that lets the user feel and actually also be in control 
instead of allowing technical arguments overweigh user needs.

Pretty please.


While I understand that change can be good. I see quite a lot of change in the 
Linux area in the last time where I get the impression it is change for the 
sake of change without obvious benefits.

Thanks,
-- 
Martin 'Helios' Steigerwald - http://www.Lichtvoll.de
GPG: 03B0 0D6C 0040 0710 4AFA  B82F 991B EAAC A599 84C7
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