Subject: Re: [TS] New poll for thoughtstream
From: Ben Darnell (ben@thoughtstream.org)
Date: Tue Aug 01 2000 - 14:23:35 EDT
The poll is still open, but I'll go ahead and make some comments on the
results so far:
* PalmOS: 14
No surprise here. I've got some ideas for the Palm version, possibly
including beefing up LinkMaster for better integration with other apps.
* Windows: 13
Currently, I still plan to use wxPython for a cross-platform desktop
port. This means that TS won't integrate quite as well with other apps
as a native app would, although I don't think that'll be significant.
If anyone can think of a specific benefit from this integration that
can't be achieved through a cross-platform toolkit, let me know.
* Linux/Gnome: 11
* Linux/KDE: 5
* Linux/Other: 2
The above question about the benefits of integration applies to Gnome
and KDE as well. wxPython produces desktop-neutral apps (slightly
biased towards Gnome because it is built on top of GTK). I use Gnome,
so any desktop-specific stuff would be aimed in that direction, although
I don't know how much can be done from a wxWin app.
* Linux/Text: 3
There will definitely be a text-mode interface; hopefully something more
user-friendly than just a python prompt ;-). This isn't going to be a
high priority, since lynx/w3m and the web version should work together
nicely.
* Mac: 5
I don't have a Mac, so I can't work on this, but wxPython is being
ported to the Mac, so when that's done it should be relatively simple to
port TS.
* BeOS: 1
This one's not likely in the near future, as the BeOS port of wxWindows
is still in the planning stages (although the BeOS port of GTK seems to
be coming along nicely; perhaps that could be used)
* WinCE: 1
Not gonna happen. One handheld port is enough for me, although if
anyone else wants to do this, they're welcome to try.
* Web/CGI: 6
* Web/Zope: 3
This is one of the main questions I wanted to settle with this poll. I
see that there is interest in keeping TS free from entanglements with
Zope, and I tend to agree. The problem with straight CGI is that it's
slow - over half a second to start up python and import
thoughtstream.cgi_app (this could be improved by using fewer modules,
i.e. putting more stuff in a single file, but it's still pretty bad).
Something like mod-python is necessary for decent performance, but
mod-python doesn't work with MySQLdb. Another option is to just have a
Python HTTP server listening on an alternate port (although this has
most of the same problems as Zope)
As a more general issue, how can ThoughtStream data be shared between
multiple processes (e.g. a GUI app and a Palm conduit)? CORBA/COM is
one way, but I don't know of any way to do this in a cross-platform way.
Putting all the data in a (e.g.) MySQL database should work, although it
would leave more work to the clients and I'm not sure how well locking
would work. A third option is to go through the aforementioned Python
HTTP server. I don't want users to have to start up a "ThoughtStream
daemon" manually (although they should have the option); clients should
do so automatically.
Any thoughts?
-Ben
-- Ben Darnell ben@thoughtstream.org http://thoughtstream.org Finger bgdarnel@debian.org for PGP/GPG key 1024D/1F06E509--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- Free Conference Calling with Firetalk! Click Here! http://click.egroups.com/1/5480/7/_/6321/_/965154214/ --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>-
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