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Maybe this Rob Love desktop integration lark is progressing faster that I thought. Latest news is that gnome-volume-manager is checked into the Gnome CVS repository. This little baby handles things like auto-mounting removable media, such as CDs and Compact Flash cards, when you insert them rather than this task having to be carried out manually. It also holds support for autorun of programs upon inserting of the media.

Whilst I’m not a particular autorun-fan, it’s things like this that will make general Linux usage easier for the masses. The ones that couldn’t care less that the reason they cannot use their new digital camera is because they have to mount it first. Gnome-volume-manager will mount it for you, copy the files to a folder and pop-up a Nautilus window with your new photos in. Which is an autorun feature I would use.

As the Gnome 2.6 freeze is either passed or coming up in the very near future, I’d guess the volume-manager won’t be seen before Gnome 2.8. Even then, it relies on many kernel-level enhancements. This means that even that timescale may be optimistic due to having to add so many things into a standard kernel. Finally issues like what happens to the volume-manager when the requisite kernel enhancements are not there need to be sorted out. Still, good steps forward being made, which we like to see.