I guess my first question would be, why replace conf files? They're ASCII, so they're readable & writable & scriptable by just about anything. They're easily portable & copyable. They work.
The Windows Registry is a big fat mess. Wikipedia goes into detail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_registry#Advantages_and_Disadvantages: "# Centralizing configurations makes it difficult to back up and recover individual applications. # In practice, manual manipulation of the registry might be required where applications that are using the Registry do not implement configuration through their user interface. # Because the Registry structure is contained in binary files, damage to it is difficult to repair. Because information required for loading device drivers is stored in the registry[25], a damaged registry may prevent a Windows system from booting successfully. Note that damaged configuration files have the same result to other operating systems, but these can be repaired more easily using a text editor. # Any application that does not uninstall properly, or does not have an uninstaller, can leave entries in the registry. Over time the computer suffers "software rot" as the registry fills with left-over and possibly incorrect entries. # Installers and uninstallers become complex, much more than just copying files into a folder. # Applications that make use of the registry to store and retrieve their settings are unsuitable for use on portable devices used to carry applications from one system to another. # Since an application's configuration is centralized away from the application itself, it is often not possible to copy installed applications that use the Registry to another computer. This means that software usually has to be reinstalled from original media on a computer upgrade or rebuild, rather than just copying the user and software folder to the new computer. # The Windows Registry is said to be a single point of failure.[26][27] # There are thousands upon thousands of different keys used by many different Windows applications, and vendors rarely, if ever, document the purpose of these keys to the outside world. Such information is useful to the power user or system administrator." Now, granted, the same article, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_registry#Equivalents_in_other_operating_systems, does say this about Gconf: "However, in GConf, all application settings are stored in separate files, thereby eliminating a single point of failure." Great. But what about all the other criticisms? They seem apropos to me. The point being, Gconf was a bad idea to begin with. And on top of being a bad idea, it sounds like it was poorly implemented. Hey, now we're approaching Microsoft levels of incompetence! Well done. Scott -- R. Scott Granneman [email protected] ~ www.granneman.com Full list of publications @ http://www.granneman.com/publications My new book: Google Apps Deciphered @ http://www.granneman.com/books "I read about an Eskimo hunter who asked the local missionary priest, 'If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' 'No,' said the priest, 'not if you did not know.' 'Then why,' asked the Eskimo earnestly, 'did you tell me?'" ---Annie Dillard On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 11:03 AM, Robert Citek <[email protected]> wrote: > My guess is that it is supposed to be an auxiliary to (or replacement > for) the ~/.*rc files. That's not a bad thing, if done well. gconf > doesn't seem to be done well. Or if it is done well, it is poorly > documented. > > Regards, > - Robert > > On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 11:24 AM, Scott Granneman <[email protected]> wrote: >> Gconf was one of the worst things GNOME ever did. After years of knowing how >> complex, user-hostile, & fragile the Windows Registry was, GNOME decided to >> implement the same kind of thing for Linux. Brilliant! > > -- > Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) > Main page: http://www.cwelug.org > To post: [email protected] > To subscribe: [email protected] > To unsubscribe: [email protected] > More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug > -- Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) Main page: http://www.cwelug.org To post: [email protected] To subscribe: [email protected] To unsubscribe: [email protected] More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug
