aitor said on Tue, 22 Jun 2021 08:24:04 +0200

>Hi Steve,
>
>On 20/6/21 23:09, Steve Litt wrote:
>> Huh? The preceding link appears to be a whole distro. How can I
>> download, compile and install*hopman* on my existing Void Linux
>> computer?
>
>The unique existent development files of gtk in Void Linux seem to be
>3.24 or higher:
>
>http://54.37.137.89/pkgs.void/package/gtkmm
><http://54.37.137.89/pkgs.void/package/gtkmm>

I should have made this suggestion a year ago, and it might be too late
now, but I'll make it just in case...

How bout making a CLI Hopman with an API somebody can interact with in
gtk, or CLI, or PHP, or Tcl/Tk, or Python/Tk, or pretty much anything
else?

The API could include the list of all access points, sortable by alpha
or by strength. There could be a function that takes access point,
encryption type, passphrase or long pass string, this function being
fed by whatever GUI input screen wanted. Most of all, you could include
a document of the definition of what a GUI Hopman looks like and what
it doesn't, so all the implementations are roughly the same except for
appearance. I could write that document for you.

My local LUG, GoLUG, once featured a genius named Gary Miller, who is
now programming for the angels. He taught me the concept of the Gary
Miller program architecture. What Gary did is write a program with a
text interface: Perhaps not even a very understandable text interface.
He put this interface at a given port number. He then published how
you'd need to interact with that port in order to properly manipulate
his program to produce the intended results.

It's a beautiful concept. Gary didn't need to worry about user
interface at all. The person writing the GUI (or CLI) side of it didn't
need one bit of subject matter expertise. And best of all, the Gary
Miller program architecture avoided the volleyball code all too common
today, where, regardless of boasts to the contrary, subject matter and
user interface are intermixed into a jumbled stew (yeah RAILS, I'm
talking about you), and the result was execution bouncing all around
between subject matter and presentation.

My life would be simpler if Suckless Tools' dmenu had been built with
the Gary Miller program architecture. It's a great program, but it's
volleyball code, almost impossible to separate the string selectable
list from X calls. And now comes Wayland. And what if I want to use
this great program from CLI (which I do).

I don't think the Gary Miller program architecture needs a port. The
GUI could fork the system expertise part, and possessing the system
expertise part's PID, could send signals and send data thru a named
pipe or fifo or even a directory full of files or whatever.

I think the Gary Miller method works well with Domain Specific
Languages (DSLs). I've never written a full blown Gary Miller system,
but I've written plenty of programs with DSLs, and they worked out
great.

Anyway, back on topic, I think Hopman is much too good a program to
depend on Gtk2 or 3 or 4 or Qt or Xforms or any other presentation
method, or any particular distro or lack thereof.

Aitor, where can I download the Hopman source code so I can at least
look at it?

Thanks,

SteveT

Steve Litt
Spring 2021 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful
Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques