system-config-sshd ?

[Arthur Pemberton]

Hello,

I have been a Fedora user since FC1, and now I'd like to contribute to
the project. I know some Python, but no GUI (as yet). My more tested
programming skills lie is pascal and delphi. I am interested in building
a cnfiguration tool for sshd to help me learn the python language
better, and also to contribute to the fedora project. But I need some help:

Knowledge - HOWTOs, tutorial, whitepapers, etc that I need to read to
properly write a system-config applicat ion
Rules - Standards,  and guidelines that I shoudl follow
Technologies - gui toolkits, modules, etc that I should stick to in
learning and building a system-config tool.

Thanks for your assistance and time.

PS: the fedora-config-list is dead, so I'm reposting here

[Rahul Sundaram]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:

>  Hello,
>
>  I have been a Fedora user since FC1, and now I'd like to contribute to
>  the project. I know some Python, but no GUI (as yet). My more tested
>  programming skills lie is pascal and delphi. I am interested in building
>  a cnfiguration tool for sshd to help me learn the python language
>  better, and also to contribute to the fedora project. But I need some 
>  help:
>
>  Knowledge - HOWTOs, tutorial, whitepapers, etc that I need to read to
>  properly write a system-config applicat ion
>  Rules - Standards,  and guidelines that I shoudl follow
>  Technologies - gui toolkits, modules, etc that I should stick to in
>  learning and building a system-config tool.
>  
cvs.fedora.redhat.com and system-config* srpms has all the code 
necessary to give you an idea on how these tools work. That would a good 
starting point. It would be nice if you can explain what you have 
planned for system-config-sshd.

regards
Rahul

[Arthur Pemberton]

Rahul Sundaram wrote:

>  Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have been a Fedora user since FC1, and now I'd like to contribute to
> > the project. I know some Python, but no GUI (as yet). My more tested
> > programming skills lie is pascal and delphi. I am interested in building
> > a cnfiguration tool for sshd to help me learn the python language
> > better, and also to contribute to the fedora project. But I need some 
> > help:
> >
> > Knowledge - HOWTOs, tutorial, whitepapers, etc that I need to read to
> > properly write a system-config applicat ion
> > Rules - Standards,  and guidelines that I shoudl follow
> > Technologies - gui toolkits, modules, etc that I should stick to in
> > learning and building a system-config tool.
> >
>  cvs.fedora.redhat.com and system-config* srpms has all the code 
>  necessary to give you an idea on how these tools work. That would a 
>  good starting point. It would be nice if you can explain what you have 
>  planned for system-config-sshd.
>
>  regards
>  Rahul
>  
Thanks for at least replying. I was beginning to ponder whether my mail 
had actually reached the other list members.

Well my understanding is that the system-config tools are written in 
python and use the gtk toolkit. As much as I wanted my frst gui app to 
be in Qt, since GTK+ is the quasi standard, I have no problem in that.

My idea thus far is to build a dictionary of objects from the 
sshd_config each object would represet a configuration option (some what 
simplified explanation).

I have invisioned the UI as a basic tab oriented design, with the 
following tabs:

ACCESS CONTROL
AUTHENTICATIONSECURITY
TCP/IP
X SERVER
GENERAL

Of course I would use the best widgets based on the type of data the 
config option is expecting (boolean, string, file path, single option 
list, multipel option list, sequential integers, time). So far it looks 
like a majority of the config options can be satisfied with a checkbox. 
I'm also considering defining a class for each of the afforementioned 
data types.

I also hope to make each option's object hold a property called 
'description' which would store the explainations given at 
http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sshd_config or at least a 
link to view it from a less memory consuming location (maybe an xml file).

Program would also do backups of config file for the sake of regression.

Thats what I have in mind for now.

Feel free to comment and suggest critically.

BTW: forgive my ignorance, but I only know how to get binary packages 
with yum, how can I use yum to get src rpms? Or must I download them the 
old fashion way?

[Rahul Sundaram]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:

>  Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>
> > Arthur Pemberton wrote:
> >
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> I have been a Fedora user since FC1, and now I'd like to contribute to
> >> the project. I know some Python, but no GUI (as yet). My more tested
> >> programming skills lie is pascal and delphi. I am interested in 
> >> building
> >> a cnfiguration tool for sshd to help me learn the python language
> >> better, and also to contribute to the fedora project. But I need 
> >> some help:
> >>
> >> Knowledge - HOWTOs, tutorial, whitepapers, etc that I need to read to
> >> properly write a system-config applicat ion
> >> Rules - Standards,  and guidelines that I shoudl follow
> >> Technologies - gui toolkits, modules, etc that I should stick to in
> >> learning and building a system-config tool.
> >>
> > cvs.fedora.redhat.com and system-config* srpms has all the code 
> > necessary to give you an idea on how these tools work. That would a 
> > good starting point. It would be nice if you can explain what you 
> > have planned for system-config-sshd.
> >
> > regards
> > Rahul
> >
>  Thanks for at least replying. I was beginning to ponder whether my 
>  mail had actually reached the other list members. 
Well there is a lot of traffic lately and your mail was getting lost in 
the static

>  Well my understanding is that the system-config tools are written in 
>  python and use the gtk toolkit. As much as I wanted my frst gui app to 
>  be in Qt, since GTK+ is the quasi standard, I have no problem in that.
>
>  My idea thus far is to build a dictionary of objects from the 
>  sshd_config each object would represet a configuration option (some 
>  what simplified explanation).
>
>  I have invisioned the UI as a basic tab oriented design, with the 
>  following tabs:
>
>  ACCESS CONTROL
>  AUTHENTICATIONSECURITY
>  TCP/IP
>  X SERVER
>  GENERAL
>
>  Of course I would use the best widgets based on the type of data the 
>  config option is expecting (boolean, string, file path, single option 
>  list, multipel option list, sequential integers, time). So far it 
>  looks like a majority of the config options can be satisfied with a 
>  checkbox. I'm also considering defining a class for each of the 
>  afforementioned data types.
>
>  I also hope to make each option's object hold a property called 
>  'description' which would store the explainations given at 
>  http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sshd_config or at least a 
>  link to view it from a less memory consuming location (maybe an xml 
>  file).
>
>  Program would also do backups of config file for the sake of regression.
>
>  Thats what I have in mind for now.
>
>  Feel free to comment and suggest critically.
>  
Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic 
functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a more 
comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the basic things 
in an easy way first

>  BTW: forgive my ignorance, but I only know how to get binary packages
>
>  with yum, how can I use yum to get src rpms? Or must I download them 
>  the old fashion way? 
yum install yum-utils and use yumdownloader. Other utils in there like 
yum-builddep is useful for this purpose too

regards
Rahul

[Arthur Pemberton]

Rahul Sundaram wrote:

>  Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>
> > Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> >
> >> Arthur Pemberton wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hello,
> >>>
> >>> I have been a Fedora user since FC1, and now I'd like to contribute to
> >>> the project. I know some Python, but no GUI (as yet). My more tested
> >>> programming skills lie is pascal and delphi. I am interested in 
> >>> building
> >>> a cnfiguration tool for sshd to help me learn the python language
> >>> better, and also to contribute to the fedora project. But I need 
> >>> some help:
> >>>
> >>> Knowledge - HOWTOs, tutorial, whitepapers, etc that I need to read to
> >>> properly write a system-config applicat ion
> >>> Rules - Standards,  and guidelines that I shoudl follow
> >>> Technologies - gui toolkits, modules, etc that I should stick to in
> >>> learning and building a system-config tool.
> >>>
> >> cvs.fedora.redhat.com and system-config* srpms has all the code 
> >> necessary to give you an idea on how these tools work. That would a 
> >> good starting point. It would be nice if you can explain what you 
> >> have planned for system-config-sshd.
> >>
> >> regards
> >> Rahul
> >>
> > Thanks for at least replying. I was beginning to ponder whether my 
> > mail had actually reached the other list members.
>
>
>  Well there is a lot of traffic lately and your mail was getting lost 
>  in the static
>
> >
> > Well my understanding is that the system-config tools are written in 
> > python and use the gtk toolkit. As much as I wanted my frst gui app 
> > to be in Qt, since GTK+ is the quasi standard, I have no problem in 
> > that.
> >
> > My idea thus far is to build a dictionary of objects from the 
> > sshd_config each object would represet a configuration option (some 
> > what simplified explanation).
> >
> > I have invisioned the UI as a basic tab oriented design, with the 
> > following tabs:
> >
> > ACCESS CONTROL
> > AUTHENTICATIONSECURITY
> > TCP/IP
> > X SERVER
> > GENERAL
> >
> > Of course I would use the best widgets based on the type of data the 
> > config option is expecting (boolean, string, file path, single option 
> > list, multipel option list, sequential integers, time). So far it 
> > looks like a majority of the config options can be satisfied with a 
> > checkbox. I'm also considering defining a class for each of the 
> > afforementioned data types.
> >
> > I also hope to make each option's object hold a property called 
> > 'description' which would store the explainations given at 
> > http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sshd_config or at least 
> > a link to view it from a less memory consuming location (maybe an xml 
> > file).
> >
> > Program would also do backups of config file for the sake of regression.
> >
> > Thats what I have in mind for now.
> >
> > Feel free to comment and suggest critically.
> >
>  Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic 
>  functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a 
>  more comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the basic 
>  things in an easy way first 
Care to present me with some easily observed examples so that I could 
better apply what you're suggesting to my problem?

> > BTW: forgive my ignorance, but I only know how to get binary packages 
> > with yum, how can I use yum to get src rpms? Or must I download them 
> > the old fashion way?
>
>
>  yum install yum-utils and use yumdownloader. Other utils in there like 
>  yum-builddep is useful for this purpose too
>
>  regards
>  Rahul
>

[Rahul Sundaram]

Hi

> >>
> > Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic 
> > functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a 
> > more comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the basic 
> > things in an easy way first
>
>
>  Care to present me with some easily observed examples so that I could 
>  better apply what you're suggesting to my problem?  
Sure.  system-config-httpd only exposes basic functionality for example. 
GUI applications shouldnt be designed with the aim to expose all the 
configuration options but as task based systems. Figuring out what 
options fit into which task group would be a good idea. Try create some 
mockups using glade. 

regards
Rahul

[Arthur Pemberton]

Rahul Sundaram wrote:

>  Hi
>
> >>>
> >> Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic 
> >> functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a 
> >> more comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the basic 
> >> things in an easy way first
> >
> >
> >
> > Care to present me with some easily observed examples so that I could 
> > better apply what you're suggesting to my problem? 
>
>
>  Sure.  system-config-httpd only exposes basic functionality for 
>  example. GUI applications shouldnt be designed with the aim to expose 
>  all the configuration options but as task based systems. Figuring out 
>  what options fit into which task group would be a good idea. Try 
>  create some mockups using glade.
>  regards
>  Rahul
>  
Will do.

[Rahul Sundaram]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:

>  Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>
> > Hi
> >
> >>>>
> >>> Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic 
> >>> functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a 
> >>> more comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the 
> >>> basic things in an easy way first
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Care to present me with some easily observed examples so that I 
> >> could better apply what you're suggesting to my problem? 
> >
> >
> >
> > Sure.  system-config-httpd only exposes basic functionality for 
> > example. GUI applications shouldnt be designed with the aim to expose 
> > all the configuration options but as task based systems. Figuring out 
> > what options fit into which task group would be a good idea. Try 
> > create some mockups using glade.
> > regards
> > Rahul
> >
>  Will do. 
Any followups on this one?


-- 
Rahul 

Fedora Bug Triaging - http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers

[Arthur Pemberton]

On 1/9/06, Rahul Sundaram <sundaram(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote:
>  Arthur Pemberton wrote:
>
>  > Rahul Sundaram wrote:
>  >
>  >> Hi
>  >>
>  >>>>>
>  >>>> Other system configuration tools are more suited to do the basic
>  >>>> functionality and not expose a lot of details. You could do it in a
>  >>>> more comprehensive way but the UI should be designed to do the
>  >>>> basic things in an easy way first
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> Care to present me with some easily observed examples so that I
>  >>> could better apply what you're suggesting to my problem?
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> Sure.  system-config-httpd only exposes basic functionality for
>  >> example. GUI applications shouldnt be designed with the aim to expose
>  >> all the configuration options but as task based systems. Figuring out
>  >> what options fit into which task group would be a good idea. Try
>  >> create some mockups using glade.
>  >> regards
>  >> Rahul
>  >>
>  > Will do.
>
>  Any followups on this one? 

Not just yet, my time has been largely consumed of late.

--
>  Rahul
>
>  Fedora Bug Triaging - http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
>
>  --
>  fedora-devel-list mailing list
>  fedora-devel-list(a)redhat.com
>  https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
>  


--
As a boy I jumped through Windows, as a man I play with Penguins.

[Stephen John Smoogen]

On 1/9/06, Arthur Pemberton <pemboa(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:
>  
>  >
>  > Any followups on this one?
>
>   Not just yet, my time has been largely consumed of late.
>  
I am looking at this myself. My time is also limited so my timeline
would be for FC6  (expecting a 6 month release period). The main idea
for the GUI would be to turn on/off various security mechanisms to
meet various security criteria. It would be command line oriented also
so that it can be run from kickstart.


> > --
> > Rahul
> >
> > Fedora Bug Triaging -
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
> >
> > --
> > fedora-devel-list mailing list
> > fedora-devel-list(a)redhat.com
> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
>
>  
>  
> --
> As a boy I jumped through Windows, as a man I play with Penguins.
> --
> fedora-devel-list mailing list
> fedora-devel-list(a)redhat.com
> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
>  

--
Stephen J Smoogen.
CSIRT/Linux System Administrator