Re: To answer your question about the upcoming Style-Guide..

[sun <as387 yfn ysu edu>]

> It's like this: I think every application should work like the Gimp
> drawing window does.  Right-click gets you the top-level menu for the
> associated window.  Right-click on the root gets you the WM.

oh, goodie, somebody who agrees with me!

i personally still prefer the electriceyes menuing system, where all
application-menu choices are available from the root menu in addition to
the rest of the menus. would this fit in to your plan of using pie-menus
(which sounds like a very innovative and possibly addictive feature)?

of course, my little right-clickable root-menu "cause du jour" should be
configurable... the user should pick if they want the slower but more de
facto standard menu bar or the newer, imo quicker right-clicky
"root/context" menu. and, once you get your pies worked out, that should
be an option too.

as far as the default out-of-the-box configuration, though, i think we
should be willing to go out on that limb and say "we don't care what
you're used to; this is more efficient, easier to learn for
first-timers, neater, more addictive, and more productive so we're gonna
do it this way by default." i still cast my vote for the right-clickable
popup.

> Unfortunately, it means that applications have to make do with only
> two mouse buttons.  But hey, the Mac only has one, so obviously it's
> possible.

this, of course, is an issue that must be dealt with: how many mouse
buttons would a mouse button mouse if a mouse button could button mouse
buttons?

gnome should work just as well under linuxppc and mklinux on macs with
single-button mice as on my x workstation with my scrolly-wheeled mouse
systems mouse, with 6 buttons. (count them: left, middle, right,
scroll-up, scroll-down, thumb-button.) and it's not fair to say the mac
only has one mouse button, btw, since the mac's interface was always
designed to be used with one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard,
in essence giving mac users the edge with 101-button mice. :)

i think it's safe to say that since x was designed for use with 3
buttons (even mac x servers take this into account, with standard
key-combos to emulate buttons 2 and 3) that we should count on having at
least those 3 buttons, but support scroll-wheels and additional buttons
too if necessary.

anybody have better ideas or different perspectives on this?
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin