linux registry (no, not that again!)

[Avi Alkalay]

I was expecting more discussion on this issues, since I believe they
are the strongest to slow down Linux ecosystem evolution and user
friendlyness.


This one:

> But IMHO, I can't
> handle such a big mess of different configuration files and locations
> anymore. And I can't handle to explain that to customers and business
> software developers. They see Linux as a very confusing system.
> Obviously, switching from plain text to a key namespace is not enough.
> It must be adopted by higher level software, OS base configurations,
> distros, an ecosystem. Then we'll stop having different flavors of
> Linux, and something way more usable.



And this:

> Out there in the business world, developers (specially those who came
> from a Windows environment) are thirsty for some registry-like
> configuration store. Its easy to handle configurations (nobody wants
> to write configuration file compilers). Its better to design software
> that provides a plugin architecture (extensions integrate themselves
> changing a few keys, instead of having to understand and regenerate
> the whole configuration file). Current Linux (distro-specific) ad-hoc
> for this is the configuration dir, where you drop your configuration
> piece.




And this:

> I believe it is the distribution role to feel this market need and
> include developer tools like Elektra. I'm not saying to patch
> everything to a key database right now, but to just include it and let
> the ecosystem (specially of commercial apps) grow. It doesn't have to
> be Elektra, but for obvious reasons I believe it is the most
> system-wide, simple, and close to what they already know (WRegistry).
> BTW, Elektra API is also being ported to Windows, so a cross-platform
> app will have the same source code to access configurations (namespace
> is cross-plat too), and on Windows the API will fetch keys in the
> Windows Registry. More about this architecture in this presentation (I
> just uploaded an update):
> 
> http://elektra.sourceforge.net/elektra.sxi     or
> http://elektra.sourceforge.net/presentation/elektra.html


Regards,
Avi