Re: From KDE to GNOME. Experiences, suggestions and comments

["Michael M." <nixlists writemoore net>]

Janne Ojaniemi wrote:
> I disabled the scheme where mounted devices (USB memory-sticks and CD's
> for example) are shown in the desktop (I like my desktop clean). And it
> works well. But that makes unmounting those devices very difficult. The
> device is shown in "Places", but there is no way to unmount the device
> from there. Nautilus is also opened by default when I plug the device
> in, and it shows the contents of the device. But there is no direct way
> to unmount the device from there either. How can I unmount it then? I
> need to go to the "Computer", right-click on the device there, and
> select "unmount volume". How about making it possible to unmount volumes
> straight from "places" and Nautilus's sidebar?
>
>   
My own personal Gnome wishlist would include the ability to have more 
control over what Nautilus displays on the desktop.  I like that 
Nautilus displays a desktop icon when something is mounted or 
automounted -- for me, it serves as a handy visual reminder that, "oh 
yeah, I still have that CD in the drive."  But I don't like the other 
icons -- "Computer" I can live with, maybe even my home folder icon.  
However, I also have three partitions mounted at boot on which I keep a 
lot of things I want shared between operating systems.  Nautilus 
displays an icon for each of these partitions, which just makes my 
(otherwise clean) desktop look cluttered to me.  I would love for these 
icons not to be displayed, but I think that currently the only way to do 
that is to disable icons altogether.  If I'm mistaken, I hope someone 
will tell me how to do it.
> OK, I just noticed a strange thing... if I have "Places" on the Nautilus
> sidebar, I can't unmount the device from there. But if I change it to
> "Tree", I can then right-click on the device and unmount it. Why the
> difference?
>   
Just a suggestion:  you might consider using the "Run Application" panel 
applet, assuming you have at least one panel displayed (actually, I 
think Gnome requires that you have at least one panel).  I often find it 
easier to launch less frequently used apps via typing them by name 
rather than finding them in the menu.  Simply type the command to 
unmount the device, and you will be free from worrying about Nautilus's 
shortcomings.  :-)

But this is a matter of personal preference, of course.  I try to do 
most things via the keyboard and avoid reaching for the mouse as much as 
possible.  That may not work for you.
> Since I wanted to move to GNOME entirely, I decided not to use Firefox
> (or Konqueror). Instead I decided to use Epiphany. And it does work
> well. But there are few downsides in it. And just about all of them are
> related to tabs.
>
> For starters, the scheme of opening a new tab with the mouse is somewhat
> strange. There is a menu called "Tabs", but it does not contain "New
> Tab". "New Tab" is in "File"-menu, which IMO does not make sense. Yes I
> know that Firefox has it there as well, but does Epiphany have to follow
> Firefox here, when there is more logical alternative available? "Tabs"
> is the place for all things related to tabs, yet it does not contain an
> entry for creating a new tab. Weird.
>   
Well, again, CTRL+T opens a new tab; CTRL+W closes it.  I never even 
noticed your point about where the new tab menu function is because I 
just control Epiphany from the keyboard, so I don't use the menus very 
much.  ALT+# focuses tab1, tab2, tab3, etc.  These keys work the same in 
Firefox.  The only time I use the mouse in connection with tabbing is 
when I want to re-order the tabs, which I think is only possible by 
mouse dragging.  What would be great is being able to use a keychain to 
re-order tabs, like ALT+3 (to bring the third tab to the front), then 
CTRL+M, ALT+1 (to move the current third tab to the first tab 
position).  Or something like that.

> There is also the issue of having several tabs open at once. And
> Epiphany doesn't handle that situation that well. It can only display
> handful of tabs at once, while Firefox can display lots of them. So I'm
> quite often in a situation where I have to scroll the tabs around, and I
> have to go through all the tabs, if I want to access a tab on the other
> side of the tab-bar (scroll-buttons go through the tabs).
>   
I was informed, I think on the Epiphany list, that this is a limitation 
of GTK+.

> Also, if the user rolled the mouse-wheel over the desktop in KDE, it
> automatically switches the workspace. I haven't found similar feature in
> GNOME yet.
>   
I am very glad for that!  I find that I have to disable that "feature" 
in other window managers because I am always accidentally switching 
workspaces.  Maybe that's why I prefer to use keyboard shortcuts for 
most things -- I am just a klutz with the mouse. :-)

--
Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." --S. Jackson