Decibel
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| Basic data
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| developer | KDE / supported by NLNet and basysKom |
| Current version | 0.5.0 (July 31, 2007) |
| operating system | Platform independent |
| programming language | python |
| category | Communication |
| License | GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1 |
| http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Decibel | |
Decibel was a designated communications framework for the free desktop environment KDE of version 4 . Decibel's goal was to integrate all communication protocols into the desktop interface.
Decibel was part of the Google Summer of Code in 2007 and 2008 via the KDE project .
KDE Telepathy , released in 2011, replaced Decibel within the KDE initiative.
Application scenario
Currently, computer users use different programs with different approaches for all of their contacts: instant messengers like AOL and MSN , email , Skype , and many others. Decibel brings together all of these contacts.
A possible application scenario is, for example: As soon as a sender asks the computer to establish a connection, the service manager of the Decibel framework begins his work: He accepts the request and determines the best way to communicate with the recipient (depending on the telephone number, e- Email address etc.). Then Decibel's service manager establishes the connection. In this way, you can talk to friends and business partners without having to deal with technical aspects.
Technical background
Decibel works as a desktop independent daemon , which the Telepathy - protocol used as the communication protocol. This adds functionality that reduces the effort and complexity required to enable real-time communication in computer programs. Like Telepathy, Decibel offers its services via the D-Bus protocol. So all programs that use D-Bus can use Decibel.
Decibel also enables the management of desktop-specific actions, protocol configurations and accesses. Desktop-specific actions include, for example, starting a program that is integrated into the graphical user interface by choosing a native GUI toolkit such as Qt or GTK + . This also includes using the Personal Information Manager (PIM) to store passwords and other access information.
Use in KDE 4
Decibel was not ready when KDE 4.0 was released, but it was already delivered as a framework together with KDE 4.1. Full use in KDE's standard instant messenger, Kopete , was planned for KDE 4.2. Both Kopete and Pidgin will make their supported protocols available through the Telepathy specification as official Telepathy components evolve.