[packagekit] Throttling yum backend

[Richard Hughes]

On Wed, 2008-02-13 at 14:46 -0500, Robin Norwood wrote:
> Currently the yum backend is always throttled to "40%".  IIRC, the idea
> behind this was to prevent PK from gobbling all of the user's
> bandwidth.  However, that makes PK slower for *all* operations,
> including interactive ones when I'm staring at the computer screen
> waiting for stuff to happen.  I think the backend should only ask to
> throttle for non-interactive sessions - like when the auto-updater is
> running.

Sure. We need windows BITS :-)

> We could also be smarter in different ways - for instance, no
> throttling for searching and other queries, 90% throttle for
> download+install packages, and 40% throttle for background usage.

Sure, we can certainly be smarter about it.

> Also, there are two ways to approach it - either explicit throttling
> for backends that support it, where the client/engine send a "Throttle
> 40" signal

Once we've started the backend command it's not easy to add extra
parameters. Ideas welcome if so.

> implicit throttling where the client/engine gives the
> backend some more information about the context ('Interactive mode' or
> something), and the backend decides how to handle that.

Sure, but we can't just do this at method invocation, as the situation
will change, e.g. the user minimizing the window.

Personally, I think telling the backend more information (and continue
to do) is the only way we can do this.

Richard.