KDE 4, please integrate 10 Administrative tools!

I am a big fan of the KDE desktop but their current KDE 4.3.2 release is still missing tools that are required for a 'complete desktop experience', specifically for system administration tasks with a Graphical User Interface.

Reading around the web, there are many requests and suggestions about ways to improve the KDE Desktop. It is very important to note that KDE 3.5.x was years in development to get to the functionality and stability that the 3.5.x release had; KDE 4.3.2 has only been in development for a bit over two years and its capabilities are already very impressive.

KDE 4.3.2 may have an impressive list of capabilities, but the desktop isn't yet complete for those Point-and-Click types. Here is my wish list for the near future of KDE development, to allow full system administration within the GUI of KDE.

1. KDESudo access to saving files

I would love to be prompted for a sudo password when trying to edit a file which I have no write access to, such as if a desktop computer is going to be used for an application like Motion and the user doesn't know various command-line editors. Browsing to /etc/ and opening a file with Kate (or KWrite, or any app) should allow for read-only access, and prompt for a password if the user wants to edit and save that file.

2. Administrative Mode in System Settings

Various parts of System Settings require that the root user makes changes, such as for user auto-logins and for adding printers. I am not sure the status of this. Launching 'kdesudo systemsettings' allows a user to get around this, for now.

3. Printer setup tools

In Debian at least, printers can be added in KDE by launching 'kdesudo systemsettings' and then using the Printer Configuration module, assuming the user has installed the package 'system-config-printer-kde'. Access to this should be tied in with point number two, above. Also, any machine with CUPS (which is likely any Linux machine that prints) can set up printers in http://localhost:631 — but we all knew that one by heart, right?

4. User Account Tools

Adding users to a multi-user system like Linux is important, yet it is missing in KDE's System Settings. The application 'kuser' can be installed and launched with 'kdesudo kuser' but it isn't integrated into the System Settings as far as I can tell.

5. Services and Daemons

There should be an application to start/stop/setup system daemons that happen at boot; there is an addon located here which looks to do the job on Kubuntu, but this should be a standard module within System Settings, to allow a user to stop MySQL or to change when SSH is launched, etc.

6. FUSE File System Setups

The FUSE system is great; it allows users to mount a remote file system on their current setup, without needing root access that a regular filesystem mount needs.

For example, at home my Laptop gets its wireless signal and connects to my big computer's music collection, providing transparent streaming of my music to the laptop without having all of those files on the laptop itself. For someone familiar with the command line and mounting filesystems this is pretty easy; for a computer (or even Linux) newbie it isn't so clear what needs to be done.

I would really like a System Settings module which allows for certain file systems to be mounted at login depending on various conditions. For example, if my wireless access point is 'lefty@home' then my sshfs:/ and fusesmb:/ file systems should mount; if my access point is "corporation-WEP" when I am at work, then FUSE file systems which I have defined for my work needs should mount, etc.

7. Package installation integration

Using some software requires that additional packages are installed to make that first app work properly in certain situations. If I want to open a .doc file, for example, I would need OpenOffice or KOffice or some other application which can read the closed, binary Microsoft document format. If I try to open a .doc file and I have no applicable software available, KDE should offer a list of options and install the needed software (and not limit my options to KDE applications in the process).

8. Graphics setup configuration

Adding a second monitor to my home computer required setting up an XOrg config file (because Xorg doesn't use those by default any longer) and then defining a Virtual Desktop size that would be equal to, or larger than, the total resolution of my two monitors added together. I had to add this to my Screen section of my /etc/X11/xorg./conf file (completely outside of KDE), and the whole process isn't very intuitive:

SubSection "Display"

Viewport 0 0

Depth 24

Virtual 3048 2048

EndSubSection

KDE would do well to extend the capabilities of KRandR to allow these setups to work with minimal hassle to the end user, as well as to insert various modules into that xorg.conf file to allow for 3D rendering etc, regardless of the driver used (assuming the driver is capable of this with some module modifications). KRandR sits in the Tray of your plasma task bar, but it should be accessible within System Settings. There is a Disp[lay section with information about Multiple Monitors but it doesn't do anything to assist in the setup.

9. Hardware information

In KDE3 I could see my hardware, capabilities, and even the serial number of some of the hardware peripherals installed onto my computer. KDE4 could do this and so much more, but currently the Hardware module in System Settings only discusses software backends for HAL Power Management, for Networking, and for Bluetooth devices. Where is the information about my RAM? About my processor speed? This information is all inside KInfoCenter but there isn't a way to access that from System Settings. Granted, this is information and not something with settings, but it should still be within System Settings.

10. KDE4 Technologies need clarification

Akonadi? Nepomuk? If you're not a KDE user or developer these names mean nothing to you; as a KDE user I am still unsure what these do. They need more descriptive naming in the System Settings to describe what it is I am looking at. Don't call it Anokadi in system Settings; call it Anokadi Data Storage or whatever it does. Even Aaron Seigo, the KDE hacker, puts it this way in a recent post

Jargon Is Bad:

There's a lot more jargon in KDE, though: nepomuk (search service!), krandr (screen settings!), kwin compositing (desktop effects!), akonadi ... If we can keep the jargon out of what we see when using the software, it will help people immensely.

Notice even Aaron didn't tell us what Akonadi is? :D

All and all, I love KDE, its capabilities, its sensible defaults, its configurablity, its beauty, its speed... I just hope to see KDE 4 allow users to control their whole desktop better from an administrative perspective. Give it time, it will happen. The best part about KDE is that it keeps improving, by leaps and bounds.

Any Graphical Administration suggestions that readers can provide? Please, leave a comment, and enjoy your Free Software.

=-=-=-=-=
Powered by Bilbo Blogger