ScreenProfiles

Revision 3 as of 2009-01-07 19:05:25

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Summary

Screen is a powerful program that allows your terminal session to use multiple windows and retain context among multiple logins.

This package leverages screen's support of profiles and script to present a highly customized, configured screen with a task bar at the bottom of the window that shows system status, pending updates, and which window you are currently viewing (among other features).

Release Note

The Ubuntu Server has always had a command-line only interface, and has never included a graphical desktop, such as Gnome, KDE, or XFCE. We differ quite a bit from other Linux distributions in this respect. However, the default Ubuntu Server installation does include a window manager--screen. The screen-profiles package improves the usability, user-interface, and keybindings of the default screen installation.

Rationale

There exists a contingent of Ubuntu Server users (and an even larger contingent of potential Ubuntu Server users) who complain about the Server's lack of a graphical desktop. While adding Gnome/KDE/XFCE to the Server is still not realistic, we already provide a window manager--screen.

This specification is intended to provide the design for the screen-profiles package--a set of profiles and scripts that should make the screen utility even more useful for Ubuntu Server users.

Use Cases

  • Alice is using the tty console of an Ubuntu Server and would benefit from opening multiple shells/tabs/windows. She's not terribly familiar with the screen program, and is frankly intimidated by it.
  • Betty is using an ssh client to connect to an Ubuntu Server. She needs to start a long running job, background the process, drop her ssh session, and reattach later. She, too, has heard of screen, but doesn't entirely understand its capabilities.
  • Cindy and Debbie are working thousands of miles apart, but would like to do some crosstraining on their Ubuntu Server, looking at the same code and configuration files at the same time. VNC and other graphical utilities are not an option due to the lack of sufficient bandwidth. They know something about screen, but are not aware that both of them can simultaneously share the same screen session.
  • Eunice uses ssh to log into many Ubuntu Servers, and would like to immediately know, upon login, some key details about a given server. She's been using update-motd to do this, but she'd prefer having this information always available, and dynamically updated to her session as long as she's logged in. She's aware of screen, but doesn't grok the complicated language required to define status bars.

Assumptions

  • We will not be able to make everyone happy.
  • We will create a layout that is disagreeable to someone.
  • We will establish a keybinding that conflicts with something.

It's important to minimize these offenses by:

  • Vetting the semi-graphical layout by the experience Ubuntu Desktop team
  • Testing and verifying hotkeys in some set of common utilities (gnome-terminal, tty console?)
  • Establishing a framework that allows users to easily enable desired functionality, and disable undesirable functionality.

Design

You can have subsections that better describe specific parts of the issue.

Implementation

This section should describe a plan of action (the "how") to implement the changes discussed. Could include subsections like:

UI Changes

Should cover changes required to the UI, or specific UI that is required to implement this

Code Changes

Code changes should include an overview of what needs to change, and in some cases even the specific details.

Migration

Include:

  • data migration, if any
  • redirects from old URLs to new ones, if any
  • how users will be pointed to the new way of doing things, if necessary.

Test/Demo Plan

It's important that we are able to test new features, and demonstrate them to users. Use this section to describe a short plan that anybody can follow that demonstrates the feature is working. This can then be used during testing, and to show off after release. Please add an entry to http://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Coverage/NewFeatures for tracking test coverage.

This need not be added or completed until the specification is nearing beta.

Unresolved issues

This should highlight any issues that should be addressed in further specifications, and not problems with the specification itself; since any specification with problems cannot be approved.

BoF agenda and discussion

Use this section to take notes during the BoF; if you keep it in the approved spec, use it for summarising what was discussed and note any options that were rejected.

CategorySpec