[tor-dev] Vidalia 2.0 - an complete rewrite

[Leo Unglaub]

Hey guys,
thanks for all the feedback. I am happy there is an interest from your
part in this project.

I am trying to answer to all of your questions below.


> (since Vidalia and the TBB are two different application windows)
> 
> Is that an issue you're trying to solve in your rewrite?

I didn't address this problem specific, because my UI is complete
different than the current one. So i hope this confusion will be fixed
automatically.


> I don't know very much about the Gnome architecture -- will this
> work for users who aren't using the Gnome desktop?

Yes, this will work for non-gnome users to. gnome-shell, mate, xfce,
kde, lxde, windows, ... all are no problem. I never tryed it on a MAC
but normally it should work there to.


> Are you aiming for portability?

Yes, i am trying to support all plattforms. This is actually new to
me, becuase normaly i develop only linux applications using vala. But
i realize that people don't always have linux, so i am aiming to
support them to. Hopefully with your help, because i don't have a mac
to build dmg packages.


> Also, what license are you thinking of going with?

All my projects are released under the GPL/LGPL. But if the Tor
project requires a different open source licence, i have no problem
with double licences as long as they are open source and allow the
user to do whatever they want to do with it.


> One other thing -- I'd suggest naming your program something other 
> than Vidalia, so that people can tell which program is which.

Yes, i just wrote "vidalia 2.0" so you know what i mean. But we can
pick every other name. Currently during development i refered to it as
"coop" but thats just because it's the name of my dog. If you have
ideas, i am happy to hear them. I normally just pick names from my
favorite TV series. :)


> That would be... quite a substantial project.

I am not quit sure of the meaning "substantial". Does this mean it's
an important project or does this mean you think it's to large/huge to
perform?


> What language did you use?

I used Python. Normally i am a Vala/C user, but i always wanted to try
Python because so much users recommended it and this project seamed
like a good idea to try it. So to answer your Question, it's Python
2.7 / 3. I am aiming to support both versions. Also i am trying to
support PyPy for more speed.


> How long have you been working on this

I have spend the last 2 weeks on it. If you are used to Vala thats not
a lot of time for a project, but with python development is so damn
fast. So i am actually pretty far with my plans.

Currently i am working on the tor-control-specs implementation. Thats
not 100% done yet. But most of the UI stuff is done and core functions
like the param parsing, the config editors or some notification classes.


> by 'release of the source code' to you mean a functional
> prototype?

The first release will not contain all of the planed features, but i
always try to build programs so that i can easily extend them. So
after the first version i am planing to simply add more features over
time.


> Personally I'd love to see a shiny, new Tor UI in python since
> that has our best language support in terms of controller
> libraries.

In this case you will be happy, because - in my opinion - the tool
looks great and feels native. I like it :)


> What is missing in Vidalia?

Well, some points of what is missing in my opinion i wrote in the
first email. But thats just a list of things i like in a control tool.
Maybe other people or the vidalia developers didn't want them in for a
reasion. I don't know that. But i think thats also not important,
because the best thing about the common control protocol is, that
people can use whatever client they want.


> Time for a rewrite or better improve the existing code base?

I spend some time to look at the existing codebase. It is possible to
implement my features in there to, but that would take much longer for
me. I am not the developer how loves to hack on other peoples source
code. So for me it was the logical choice to write it myself new.


> Before developing it, I'd make a list of requirements/features.

I did this in my first email. Please see the points in the email as a
feature list. I also looked at the bug tracker. Most tickets in there
are not features, there are bugs in the current implementation. So by
starting from scratch most of those things should be solved automaticly.


I hope that answered all of your questions. Thanks for all the input
from your part. It is really welcome and also thanks to Jacob and his
talks on youtube, those are the reason i am writing this tool.

Greetings
Leo

-- 
Leo Unglaub
Nachreihengasse 39 / Top 7
A-1170 Vienna
Austria

Phone: 0650 / 6575103
Website: http://www.leo-unglaub.net
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeoUnglaub

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