[Kget] [Bug 136493] New: copy functionality from ReGet download manager

[Alexey Inkin]

------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
You are the assignee for the bug, or are watching the assignee.
         
http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=136493         
           Summary: copy functionality from ReGet download manager
           Product: kget
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: Debian testing
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: kget kde org
        ReportedBy: getsoft pochta ru


Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.5.2)
Installed from:    Debian testing/unstable Packages

I think that KGet is the least usable download manager I ever seen. I have been using KDE since 3.0 and I was hoping that KGet will evolve but it doesn't seem to. There are few suggestions to improve it greatly and all of them are taken from ReGet Deluxe download manager for win32 (http://deluxe.reget.com/en/). I like it so much (and KGet in my opinion is inconvenient so much) that when I need to download something that would take more than half an hour I prefer to switch to another PC, download it in win32 and then get it by LAN.
So here we go:

1. Remove all the message boxes on errors. Instead make them be logged into a separate list in a docked window, for notification use only tray messages that do not block work.

Yesterday I have been getting files from FTP that accepts limited number of connections. When I dropped 100 of files into KGet window it received errors but decided not to stop. So in a second I had to click 100 "OK" buttons to close all the message boxes.

2. Review possible download states and actions on them. Say, I have number of downloads in different states and I just need KGet to pause everything for certain time to free bandwidth for another application. As for now I cannot select all the downloads and click "Pause" since some of them are already paused or not even started, so this button is disabled. Why not to make it always be enabled but to do nothing when the task is paused? Furthermore, when I pause all the running tasks, new ones start since those threads get free. So I firstly need to delay everything that is not running. Again, "Delay" doesn't work if in selection there are both running and delayed tasks. Damn, it's easier just to exit KGet to free bandwidth... :)

So we need to have only three states: running, queued and paused and make all buttons applicable to any state.

3. Add multithreaded downloads within one file to make it downloaded faster if server speed per thread is limited.

4. Add visualizations. A progress bar per task row is much more natural than a per cent number. Also a speed graph on would be informative.

5. Introduce bandwidth limitations. There should be three buttons on a toolbar: green, yellow and red, each meaning certain speed limit that can be tuned. This enables user to free the bandwidth in single click and get it back again that easy.

You may try ReGet just to feel how intuitive a download manager could be. Please make sense that this is not a commercial post, I really want to take that manager off in favor of KGet and to work more in Linux environment. Maybe I ought to add all these as five separate CRs. But I just wanted you to see an example of "correct" download manager so you could implement its minor advantages that I probably missed here.