GNOME bittorrent downloader

[Matt Zimmerman]

Some time ago (prior to the Warty release), a bounty was posted in the wiki
for the integration of a GNOMEish facility to perform bittorrent transfers.

Note that Ubuntu now has an official bounty process, documented here:

http://www.ubuntulinux.org/community/bounties/

which should be read by anyone considering working on such a project.

Having received some initial contacts from interested parties, I'm taking
the next step in the procedure, to open a discussion to establish the exact
specification for the project.

In this case, it seems that at least one project exists which may provide a
substantial piece of what we need (gnome-btdownloader).  However, it is not
a requirement that the project be based on this application: the
exact details of the implementation are left to the discretion of the
implementor, within the parameters established by the project specification
and the quality standards of Ubuntu.

The specification is expected to include at least the following criteria.  A
satisfactory submission will:

- Be written in Python

- Be integrated with the MIME system such that (for example) selecting a
  torrent file in Firefox or Nautilus will initiate a download

- Use standard GNOME interface components

- Be HIG v2.0 compliant

I'd like some input from the desktop team and the community on further
requirements for this application, such that it will integrate nicely with
the existing Ubuntu desktop.  These additional ideas will be incorporated
into the final specification.

Once the specification has been established, interested parties will be
welcome to submit proposals, and we can continue with the process.

-- 
 - mdz