system-config-sshd ?

[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?