[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] Ideal way to develop a long-running app?

[From: Peter Kahle]

Hi,

I'm new to Maemo, and to developing for small/embedded devices in  
general. I'm trying to wrap my head around the whole concept,  
especially the 'killable' apps that Maemo enables. I'm trying to  
figure how long-running but mostly ignored apps like IM clients fit  
into the whole picture. Sure, you can just mark them killable=false,  
but that seems inefficient. So I'd like someone to tell me what's  
wrong with the following scenario:

Instant Messaging Application, designed from the ground up for Maemo,  
architected in 3 or 4 parts:

Backend: No GUI but uses libosso, handles all the connection details,  
buddy list, etc. Stores incoming IMs and uses auto-save to persist  
them until they're seen. Auto-started on if-up if so configured, or  
launched by dbus from the front end. killable=false.

Frontend: Only GUI, receives dbus messages from backend and displays  
them to user. Also handles management and configuration of the  
accounts and buddy lists. killable=true. Launched by maemo-launcher,  
if that saves memory/time.

Statusbar and/or home applet: Displays some sign that there are (not)  
new IM's that haven't been shown. launches frontend on click/ 
doubleclick/whatever.

So what am I missing? The most likely is that process overhead  
overshadows the memory saved by only running the GUI portions when  
needed. And the obvious complexity of the system. What else?

Thanks,

Peter