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Plans for gnome-vfs replacement

Submitted by stro on Sat, 2006-09-23 09:34. Gnome 2.x

Alexander Larsson has recently started a thread on gnome-vfs list about overhauling the system in GNOME that allows you to easily access external devices, network resources, and other types of filesystems......

"Recently there has been a lot of discussions about the gnome platform and the correct stacking order and quality of the modules. Gnome-vfs is a clear problem in this discussion. Having spent the last 4 years as the gnome-vfs maintainer, and even longer as the primary gnome-vfs user (in Nautilus) I'm well aware of the problems it has. I think that we've reached a point where the problems in the gnome-vfs architecture and its position in the stack are now ranking as one of the most problematic aspects of the gnome platform, especially considering the enhancements and quality improvements seen in other parts of the platform."

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Dvfs

Submitted by Anonymous George (not verified) on Sun, 2006-09-24 15:41.

There are plans on freedesktop.org for such a system. I hope there will be a default across KDE/Gnome.
Here is the link: Freedesktop.org DVFS
The base operations are always the same for all access methods. Integration into the applications(Konqueror/Nautilus) should be seperated. Would be cool if this specification turns out to be a cross-desktop standard.

I use Gnome-VFS for accessing files remotely over SSH. While this works fine for reading/writing files as a whole, watching videos where there are seek operations involved doesn't always work that smooth.

There are plans on

Submitted by ebassi on Thu, 2006-09-28 08:01.

There are plans on freedesktop.org for such a system

D-VFS is pure vapourware, so don't hold your breath about it.

Debian - Even Hell Freezes Faster. -- seen on #debian-devel

Indeed. I've also had the

Submitted by Anonymous George (not verified) on Mon, 2006-09-25 12:06.

Indeed. I've also had the problem of streaming videos over VFS. I've found that if you mount it as a filesystem (possibly through FUSE? Whatever smbmount uses) the problem is resolved.

soooooo by Anonymous George (not verified)

fuse to replace vfs! PLEASE by Anonymous George (not verified)

Did you even read the mail?

Submitted by ebassi on Thu, 2006-09-28 08:06.

please, read the announcement email.

FUSE is a POSIX-like layer, like gnome-vfs; the new VFS would abandon the POSIX-like API in favour of streams. You can build up a POSIX-like API upon streams, but the other way around is painful (and one of the reasons for gnome-vfs shortcomings).

so: no, a FUSE backend is completely not what it's wanted, even if we forget the portability issues (think embedded devices, think non-Linux platforms, etc.).

Debian - Even Hell Freezes Faster. -- seen on #debian-devel

fuse: portable? fuse: pluggable? by Anonymous George (not verified)

No, but it does not matter, and Yes

Submitted by Anonymous George (not verified) on Tue, 2006-09-26 06:52.

I guess the plugability issue for FUSE plugins is a matter of ticking a checkbox "fuse-myfoofs" in the host os' package manager. It's just not pluggable in the desktop, where package management doesn't belong anyway.

While FUSE is not on OS X (I'm typing this from a Powerbook), OS X mounts (just checked) ftp servers very well. And they get mounted under /Volumes, right next to the hard drives. And there's hardly any Gnome-VFS aware app I'd want to use on the Mac _and_ use its VFS capabilities (webdav and Inkscape anyone?). I'd guess there are system-scope file systems for the usual suspects (from ftp to fish) on Windows too. Files and file systems belong into the domain of the platform OS, not into a desktop.

Interestingly, the major "competitor" to Nautilus, Thunar (from the XFCE people) did face a VFS discussion (over lacking SMB integration) recently, and its developer, Benedikt Meurer clarified that he sees the task of providing files clearly with the OS and suggested using a decent external mounter for SMB (or FUSE peers). I tend to share his views, given that Thunar runs circles around Nautilus and (with the latest 0.4.0 version in Edgy) recently got the last obviously missing bits (Trash!) fitted.

So, my opinion on the matter is: Chuck out the VFS completely. Since the arrival of FUSE it's plain bloat hanging around, and possible fringe platforms for GTK apps provide similar features these days.

Thunar by Anonymous George (not verified)