Re:gnome

[drarn <drarn toward com>]

When I first installed os2v4, I was appalled at TR at IBM for continuing
support for a two button mouse. The millions that BG got from selling
his worthless Microsoft Mouse he got by keeping the 3 button mouse off
the market as long as he could. Some of the applications could have been
greatly improved by three button editing. What TR at IBM should have
done is to put a 3 button mouse in the box, which would have cost them
about a buck, starting at least by v3 (warp).

Is it impossible to learn from the mistakes of others?

I found the linux exploitation of the middle button to be one of my
happiest discoveries. In rh6 gnome, I find that the middle button will
bring a window up *in front* from the panel. (Somebody asked why the
left button didn't do this.)

There is nothing wrong with the xwindows scroll bars, and the feature
that could have and should have been preserved is the capability of down
or up paging in a window without moving the mouse. That was great. At
least the right button should reverse the direction of the scroll, which
it does not do now. It seems absurd to me that when I click on an end
button of a scroll bar with any combination of mouse buttons whatever,
the same thing happens. (IMHO one should choose between a mouse and a
trackball and not have the disadvantages of both.)

In linux, the left button selects and the middle button copies and
pastes. If a combo 1-2-3 or 1-3  deleted, it would be possible to do
quicker one-handed editing. Of course, it would be too risky with a 2b
mouse. Lose the 2b mouse. One-handed function is very good ergonomics.
That is why most people prefer slower mouse menus over faster keyboard
shortcuts which one would rationally, but wrongly, expect to be more
efficient.

I was unable to find a double click anywhere in KDE. They kill gnome
with that. (I hate double clicking.) A 3 button mouse admits of 1, 2, 3,
1-2, 1-3, 2-3, and 1-2-3 (?) combinations, and in addition there are all
kinds of pens and trackballs out there. Of course all the configuring
and installation should be done at a lower level, but at least FTSOAWHD
let us have an end to double clicking.

I respectfully request that anyone suggesting functionality for double
clicking be boiled in oil forthwith, without trial or appeal. Another
very bad idea is mouse combos with keyboard. This introduces a very
unwelcome level of complexity to what could and should be a simple task.

(Just in case there is any more room on your hard drive:))
Os2 has a sort of workbench folder that is like another desktop in a
window so that you can put starters and urls and icons (anything that
will go onto a desktop) in it, thus making it possible to keep handy
access to lots of stuff from different directories without clutter.  You
also have a degree of session management with it if you want to, so
programs restart when you open it. I think that gnome users would really
like that.

It would be nice if clicking with the middle button on a desktop icon
brought up a notecard ready for writing so that I could make a note of
what it was in a hurry without having to mess with a properties dialog
or think of a  new title. Os2 could attach notes to any file as a
property but accessing them was never made easy enough so the capability
never became useful.

I thank you all for the great work that you do and for the privilege of
lurking here. I hope that I have not conveyed a negative attitude by the
ineptitude of my writing, and I hope that a user's perspective is
condoned even if not welcomed.