What does seahorse do?

[Chris G]

On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 04:33:31PM +1100, Erik Christiansen wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 11:43:58AM +0000, Chris G wrote:
> > On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 10:26:28PM +1100, Erik Christiansen wrote:
> > > However, if it doesn't mean much to you, there's no harm in closing the
> > > window, and pretending it never popped up. 
> > > 
> > What a patronising load of gits you are sometimes!  (Not just you
> > Erik, the rest of the replies are no better)
> 
> Thanks. Lots. :-)
> 
Sorry, I was having a bit of a bad day!  I was also getting confused
between two mailing lists and I *actually* thought your reply was on
another list where everyone seemed to be going down the 'patronising'
route. 


> > Look, I've been a software developer since 1971 or so, I'm MBCS and
> > have *earned* my C.Eng. status by showing work I have done over the
> > years.  I started using Unix (on a Tektronix development system) some
> > time in the early 1980s.  I've been using Unix/Linux sort of systems
> > on my home computers since around 1990.
> 
> The places and projects differ, but the dates are similar (1978) in my
> case.
> 
Another 'golden oldie' (well it's nicer than 'patronising' isn't it!).


> > OK, I'm maybe a bit stuck in the habit of using command line for
> > everything
> 
> I'll even risk one step further: It seems more pleasant and profitable
> to build and maintain an understanding of underlying services, and the
> convenience and power of the CLI, rather than settle for being an
> underinformed consumer of sombody elses ephemeral GUI confection.
> 
We agree!


> > but saying "if it doesn't mean much to you, there's no harm
> > in closing the window, and pretending it never popped up" isn't very
> > likely to cheer me up!
> 
> Hmm ... yes, my statement would be equally factual, but perhaps less
> prone to fuelling displeasure with unwelcome changes, if phrased:
> 
> "However, for anyone to whom it doesn't mean much, there's no harm in
> closing the window, and pretending it never popped up."
> 
> That would be my initial reaction to the thing. If I ever get around to
> checking GPG signatures on list posts, I will studiously avoid GUI
> cruft. (Nobody "signs" private emails sent to me, so I'm not a consumer
> of the technology, either.)
> 
Absolutely, I've never really seen the point ot GPG for 99% or E-Mail
messages, especially those on mailing lists.


> My ssh key management doesn't involve any GUI, and is extremely unlikely
> to do so while the application lacks a manpage defining files used, and
> easiest way to change plugin editor from gedit to vim.
> 
vile or xvile in my case but that's only from long ingrained habit.  I
must say that Ubuntu does things better on that front than most
distributions, if you install vile then it becomes the default editor
and so I don't have to go around changing the default for root etc.
it's all done for me - excellent.


> Incidentally, $ dpkg -p seahorse
> gives possibly the best precis of its attributes seen to date. (Though
> 12.5% of that is prolix "sales waffle" which only means "GUI" i.e.:
> "Management operations can easily be carried out through an intuitive
> interface."
> 
> > Rant over!  :-)
> 
> Don't get mad, get even! Wipe every GUI that isn't a web browser or a
> CAD package. (My favourite is Eagle. :-)
> 
It's not worth the effort really.  However Ubuntu seems *less*
interfering than some distributions in that if you do things on the
command line that have alternative GUI ways of doing them it doesn't
usually screw things up.


> > ... but I still want to know how/where I get my ssh key into seahorse
> > and/or whether it does it by itself.
> 
> Ah, the original rant^H^H^H^Hdissertation rather obscured that enquiry. ;-)
> 
> Doesn't yours come up with:
> 
> >>>
> FIRST TIME OPTIONS:
> ...
> Import existing keys from a file:  [Import_clicky_thingo]
> <<<
> 
It probably did but my problem at that point was that I wasn't sure
what (if anything) it was going to do with the keys.

I'm still not quite clear of the interaction (if any) between seahorse
and ssh-agent.  When (if it does) will it ask me for my ssh key
passphrase? 


Thanks for being so tolerant of my outburst.

-- 
Chris Green