Comments on: Lasso Me

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 21:29:43 +0000

Bah.

I try and be helpful and what do I get.

Next time I’ll just use The Force to make you use Gnome ;o)

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 18:36:18 +0000

Or maybe I should say, I want to write 50 words on what they let you do, rather than what they are. Because software is supposed to be a tool that lets you do stuff, not an end in itself!

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 18:15:40 +0000

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Geek. I’m sure all the developers know how it works - I think we’re talking 50 words for the “savvy enough to have heard about linux but wouldn’t know what IO was if it slapped them across the face” crowd. So more like “KIOslaves are clever dohickeys that mean you don’t need special programs to transfer files from an ftp server or across SSH before you use the file - every KDE program can open any file wherever it currently is, without any fuss” or similar.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 17:12:16 +0000

“IO in KDE is handled by a separate KIO process. This process implements an agent system where the KIO process (the trader) will negotiate with all available agents to find one who can handle a particular mimetype. These agents are called KIOSlaves.

To implement a new protocol in KDE, you simply have to provide a suitable KIOSlave to handle that protocol and drop it into the system”

That’s actually a 67 word “basic” explanation, but my degree had “Intelligent and Interactive Systems” modules so I already know the trader/broker/agent story.

A better explanation would be “KDE handles network operations via a separate module called KIO. This module talks to various plugins called KIOSlaves who each know about one or more different communication methods (ftp,ssh,webdav etc.). When the KIO process gets asked for a communication method, it asks all available KIOSlaves if they can speak that particular language. To enable a new network communication method, all you need to do is write a self-contained KIOSlave for that method and drop it in.”

See, I may still like Gnome more, but I am helpful ;o)

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:49:53 +0000

In reply to your original post, I’ll give it a go sometime. I don’t think I’ve managed to explain it to anyone who isn’t already a computer geek though - but for something that actually simplifies the system so much, you would have thought that it was simple to explain!

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:46:51 +0000

Hi Lauri,

Sorry about that. I know it’s fairly rubbish, but I got really badly hammered by spam comments last autumn, and had to go kind of nuclear, with more than one filtering plugin running. My Wordpress install is long overdue an upgrade as well, so it’s all a bit flakey.

By: Lauri Watts

Lauri Watts — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 07:06:31 +0000

Hmm. Your comment spam filtering bites (the confirmation page is blank, and does not display any ‘email confirmation link’ either.

By: Lauri Watts

Lauri Watts — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 07:03:11 +0000

You know, I’ve tried writing a kioslaves in 50 words thing about 500 times. The best I can do is “They’re thingies, that make KDE not care about networks”. Which is like, way under 50, but lacking, somehow.

Ok, how about: “kioslaves implement pseudo protocols that allow KDE applications to access resources transparently whether they are local or remote” Hmm, better, but try explaining to someone who has never used a computer what a protocol is.

If you ever figure out just how to word it, would you like to join the KDE documentation team?

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 08:38:50 +0000

Umm, no it doesn’t. The only time I come across Gnome is in Firefox when I’m trying to save downloads - and it really, really sucks. Oh my God, does it suck.

To be honest, it doesn’t suck that much, but KDE is waaay better. See, positive argument style.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 21:31:11 +0000

Unfortunately Gnome ownz you.