Re: [gpm] Re: Gnome 2.16 Module Proposal: GNOME Power Manager

[Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org>]

Corey Burger wrote:
> On 4/9/06, Luis Villa <luis villa gmail com> wrote:
>   
> > On 4/9/06, Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org> wrote:
> >     
> > > It's worth pointing out that gnome-power-manager is very much a notifier
> > > rather than an interactive applet. If your power cable falls out, it
> > > pops up a message saying you've lost power. If you're working away from
> > > a power source, there's a battery indicator with how much power you've
> > > got left... that disappears when you're fully charged.
> > >
> > > (At least, that's how it's configured on my system.)
> > >       
> > This isn't the default, FWIW. I do agree that making this the default
> > behavior  would be the best approach- better, IMHO, than a regular
> > panel applet. I only want to know about power when something bad is
> > going wrong, which is exactly what the notification area is for. An
> > applet is all the time, and so is the current default behavior in the
> > notification area- both of which are broken.
> >
> > Luis
> >     
>
> I completely disagree. There are a few good reasons why an icon should
> be displayed all the time
>
> 1. What state the battery is in is always relevant. Power is the
> single most important thing on a laptop. Without it, you are going
> nowhere. Whether or not it is a notification icon or an applet is a
> detail I won't comment on.
>   
Nope. I'm working on a laptop at the moment, and I don't care that my 
battery is fully charged. This is because it's plugged into the wall. If 
I wasn't plugged into the wall, I'd start caring - but I'd also get a 
battery symbol.

I'd suggest you actually try using g-p-m like this.
> 2. A hidden icon is impossible to view. Unlike Windows, you cannot
> expand a slider to see hidden icons.
This is because when it disappears, it doesn't give you any information.

As a sidenote, I believe the windows slider was invented to leave some 
room for the task bar when you have 40 icons in your notification area, 
one for every application installed on the system. The GNOME 
notification area isn't intended to be (and for the most part, isn't) 
used in this way, so we don't need a way to hide icons that shouldn't be
there in the first place.

> 3. Consistency. Now this is normally not an argument I think holds any
> weight, but in this instance I think it does. Without a compelling
> reason to break consistency with other operating systems/desktop
> environments, I don't see why we should.
>   

I do. We're better :-P

--
Andrew