Desktop/Whiteboards/InhibitApis

Problem

The Inhibit pattern has proven to be quite successful. It is a good way for applications to proactively inform the system about actions that should not be taken.

Firstly, we offer too many ways to do this. We currently (as of GNOME 2.24) have the following:

* http://www.gnome.org/~mccann/gnome-screensaver/docs/gnome-screensaver.html#gs-method-Inhibit
* http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/temp/dbus-interface.html#dbus-inhibit
* http://www.gnome.org/~mccann/gnome-session/docs/gnome-session.html#org.gnome.SessionManager.Inhibit

Secondly, it is not always possible to know ahead of time if an action should be avoided. So, there is often a need for the [pattern]. This pattern has been partially implemented in gnome-session 2.24. See http://live.gnome.org/SessionManagement/GnomeSession .

Use Cases

Watching a movie on laptop screen

Watching a movie with laptop plugged into an external monitor/TV

Listening to music on laptop in another room

Burning a CD

Transferring files to a removable disk

Performing a core system software update

Performing an application software update

Editing a document

Playing a game

Discussion

Overview of actions

Action	Interface
Session idleness	org.gnome.ScreenSaver.Inhibit
Automatic screen locking	org.gnome.ScreenSaver.Inhibit
Switching users	org.gnome.SessionManager.Inhibit
Automatic suspend	org.freedesktop.PowerManagement.Inhibit
Automatic hibernation	org.freedesktop.PowerManagement.Inhibit
Logout	org.gnome.SessionManager.Inhibit
Reboot/Shutdown	TBD

References

* http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=334809#c6