apenwarr did a UniConfPresentation for GuaDec? 2003:

Please keep the abstract below up to date if re-submitting for a new conference. Also, consider adapting the abstract to the conference in question.

Presentation Abstract:

UniConf is the Unix of configuration systems.

It can act as a standalone library or as a storage backend for Gnome's GConf, KDE's KConfig, Debian's DebConf?, and any other configuration system. It recently even started growing unsightly appendages for Active Directory, the Windows Registry, and Novell NDS. UniConf itself has "mountable" backend modules modeled after the Linux VFS, so any program converted to UniConf can store its configuration in Windows .ini-style files, XML, LDAP, a remote UniConf daemon, or (eventually) even the Windows registry. It makes all the different Linux configuration systems speak the same language, so you can configure all your applications in one user interface, yet not lose the ability to hand-edit configuration files. NSS and PAM modules are available that authenticate against any UniConf tree, with built-in intelligent caching that works much better than the standard nscd daemon.

Despite all these features, UniConf itself is surprisingly simple. This talk will describe the features and flaws of several of the configuration architectures influencing UniConf's design, then explain UniConf itself. We'll stick mostly to the unusual high-level concepts that make UniConf work, especially trying to excite people about using and hacking on UniConf.

Outline:

  • What is UniConf, exactly? (It's "middleware", unfortunately.)
  • Your configuration system sucks (unless it's UniConf), and why
  • Why UniConf doesn't suck as much
  • Plugins, Monikers, Components, and how to represent anything (really) as a string by stealing ideas from TCL
  • Some silly (and not so silly) things you can do with UniConf
  • A demo, in which I do some of those silly things and then surprise and sicken you by unveiling some even sillier ones.

slajoie? (2003/08/11): The presentation slides (link at the top) have a duplicate page at the end, with one weird empty landscape page also at the end.

  • dtmacfar? (2003/08/11): The heading on the two pages if different. I assume it's so that the credits are still floating around on the screen while he's taking questions

  • apenwarr (2003/08/11): And the weird page at the end is so that stupid OpenOffice? doesn't end my presentation when I accidentally go past the last slide.