I am working on Bug 69609 - allowing /presets/registrymodification.xcu to be incorporated into a new user profile. This would be a really easy way for a system administrator to deliver a customized default configuration to his users. A proposed patch has been added to the bug report. https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69609
By far, the best way to manage default settings is to write a configuration extension. However, that is a HUGE, daunting step for your average sysadmin to take. Documentation is sparse, debugging ability is non-existent, and intimate knowledge of XML in general and LibreOffice configuration in particular is required. The barrier to entry is extremely high. (I wrote it off as too difficult initially, a co-worker implemented it successfully 'by luck', and even after that I still failed to successfully modify our extension to add another change and gave up after a few hours. I finally got it right the last time I tried.) A popular, simpler alternative is to copy a pre-configured profile over-top of the existing one in the user's home directory, but that kind of scripting is annoying and unreliable (or using an /etc/skel or Default User profile for brand-new users - but that doesn't catch existing users). This bug fix tries to find the middle ground approach. The barrier to entry in this case is extremely minimal. An administrator only needs to know about the existence of the .../presets folder. Then they can simply copy a "known good" profile into that location. They don't need to identify the specific XML entries for the settings they want to change, and they don't need to mess with individual's profiles or scripting. (The big downside compared to a config extension is that changes can't be made after a profile already exists, but perhaps you could get away with just deleting individual's profiles, and then they start with a fresh one automatically.) To lower the barrier even further (so a sysadmin doesn't have to know how to properly "prune" his registrymodifications.xcu template file), I'm trying to build in some "sysprep" type of exclusions that don't apply to a default profile (like document history/recovery, personal information, etc.). Questions: 1.) Are there any objections to implementing this into LibreOffice 4.5? How about 4.4.1? Essentially this "middle ground" solution was there already - except that it just happened not to work because of the blank, in-memory version of registrymodifications.xcu. 2.) What other config keys ought to be excluded in a generic profile? (keys which don't already exist in the "migration from a previous version" exclusions - the code already reads that list and excludes them.) 3.) Any advice/critique in general is welcome. This is my first time to consider submitting any significant code changes. Thanks, Justin _______________________________________________ LibreOffice mailing list [email protected] http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/libreoffice
