Welcome to the Qualm Project Homepage


What is this site?

This is a site about Qualm of course.

Ok, but what is Qualm?

Qualm is graphical tool for persistent resource management. While Qualm is initially aimed at providing an entirely new method of doing disk quota management, qualm can be used for managing any persistent finite resource. Essentially, Qualm is meta-quota manager that works on top of existing quota mechanisms to provide a simple means of global analysis, as well as a framework for making quota changes in a global context. More importantly though, Qualm is a proof-of-concept that provides a limited implementation of a new model of quota management. It's best to read the LISA publication for more info on this new model.

Qualm can help you if you're struggling to answer these crucial questions about your quota system:

Why can Qualm meet my needs better than other quota tools? Well, Qualm provides a holistic management interface to the quota system. In a holistic system, a global picture of the system is presented to the viewer at all times. Thus, management using a holistic system concentrates on making the picture "look right", rather than on the details of partcular changes. This makes the management experience with Qualm very different from other quota tools.

To better understand qualm is greater detail and about holistic quota management in general, check these out:

Why does this homepage look so bad?

Well, I'm a busy guy. But, ironically, the more GUI work I do, the uglier my sites get. Weird. Ok, next question.

Ok, so what do I need to run Qualm?

Qualm is written in the Python programming language and you'll need the Python interpreter to run Qualm. Qualm also uses the wxPython toolkit for its graphical displays. This means that Qualm should run on any platform, including Windows.

You'll need a version of Python greater than 2.0 (for the curious, I use list comprehension), and 2.2 is preferrable. Qualm was developed for wxPython 2.3.2.1, although, it should work (untested) with 2.3.3.1.

Qualm also uses the pyquota module for interfacing with the quota system. This module is only needed for that functionality and can be avoided if you want to use Qualm on flat files.

Where can I get Qualm?

Well, you're in the right place :) Just follow the sourceforce icon at the bottom of the page to the project page to get the Qualm source from the project page. You can also browse the CVS tree over the web on the project page or can follow the instructions to obtain the latest CVS.

Aren't you going to give me some relevant links that I'll never look at?

Nah. Any interesting links are already embedded earlier in the document. But if you are interested in finding out more about me, then check out my homepage: http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~mgilfix. Besides, I know you. You wouldn't click on them anyway.


SourceForge Logo