[Jason House <jhouse@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm trying to break this into 3 threads...
(my comments art at the bottom)

> - The executable is 6 MB, which is fairly normal for a major system 
> component, but unusual for a diagnostic tool.  I presume most of that is 
> dissectors, and it's worth noting that any given instance of ethereal is 
> unlikely to appreciate the vast majority of those.  And to add or modify a 
> dissector, you have to build and haul around that whole lump.
[snip]
> I think people would find ethereal easier to work with on lots of 
> different levels if
[snip]
> 2) the executable loaded dissectors dynamically as needed; and 3) 
> the filter descriptions were in a separate file, or even a whole tree.
>
> I'm willing to work on doing this, but I thought it might have already 
> been discussed and found undesirable.


I don't think that this exact topic has been discussed.  I've seen some 
mention of more extensive plugin usage.