Re: adding dead space to floating panels

[Ole Laursen <olau hardworking dk>]

Dave Bordoley <bordoley msu edu> writes:

> Well i think it can be easily argued that at least the applets i listed
> really show system status and hence are more appropriate for the
> notification area.
> 
> 1. Wireless link: Why should a user have to manually add this to a
> panel, if the user has a wireless connection this should automatically
> just appear.
>
> 2. Modem lights: If a user connects to the internet using a dialer
> program it should minimize into the notification area as in windows. Why
> should a user need to manually add this to the panel?
>
> 3. volume control: If a users system has a sound card, this should be
> automatically added to the panel no? However if a user doesn't have a
> sound card, it seems odd to have a volume meter on the panel.
>
> 4. Battery monitor: If i'm using a laptop, this should automatically
> appear on the panel, if not why should i need to be aware of it.

I'm thinking:

  1. Sometimes you don't want the icon to go away; e.g., when I used a
     modem light applet, I put it on the panel so that I could click
     on it when I wanted to dial up. I found that more convenient than
     the Windows method.

  2. Most of these are going to be shown either always or never so
     they will just clutter the notification area. Which you also
     presumably can't rearrange/customize in the same easy way as the
     panel. Instead, wouldn't it be better to somehow add the relevant
     applets automatically to the panel?

In my mind, the notification area is for those things that come and
go, like an IM icon which you don't want on the panel when you aren't
using the IM client.

-- 
Ole Laursen
http://www.cs.auc.dk/~olau/