Re: workspace switcher - how to get simple cursor?

[Jim Hartley <xjimh cfl rr com>]

I think the problem here is the window manager. I found this a nuisance 
when I upgraded to Fedora Core 6 from a VERY OLD system (RedHat 7.0 and 
Gnome 1.x). I had been using the Sawfish WM, and before that the 
Enlightenment WM. On both of these, you didn't really NEED a workspace 
switcher, just moving the cursor off the edge of one workspace 
automatically moved it to the next one, and if you were dragging a 
window, well, it just went to the next workspace too. The current 
Metacity WM lacks this capability.

I can tolerate (just barely) the need for the switcher, and since I 
don't move windows from one workspace to another very often it doesn't 
bother me that much. But it sure would be nice if someone could 
resurrect Sawfish or an old version of Enlightenment (I believe 
Enlightenment is still around but changed beyond recognition from what 
it was back then) and provide an alternate WM for the current version of 
Gnome. Any volunteers? Pretty please?

Jim Hartley

Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> The panel applet "workspace switcher" helps me move windows from
> workspace to workspace by dragging them.  A wonderful feature that
> I often use to rearrange windows into task groups while I work.
>
> For gnome 2.14 and earlier, the dragging process was done with a
> simple arrow cursor.  For gnome 2.16 and 2.18, dragging a window
> pops up a complicated multipart cursor, with a upper left corner
> wedge, a 4 direction cursor, and a large box with an app icon in it. 
> These all overlay the workspace switcher area on the panel, making
> it very difficult to see what I am doing.  Frustrating.
>
> How do I turn off all the extra graphics, and go back to a simple
> cursor?  Is there a configuration parameter somewhere, or do I need
> to modify and recompile gnome-panel?
>
> If I must recompile, the gnome-panel code is completely comment-free,
> and it is difficult to figure out where that extra graphics is being
> drawn.  Can someone point at the module that draws the cursor during
> the drag, so I can narrow down the area to start flailing on?  
>
> Alternately, can someone point out where this new behavior was
> discussed before it was implemented?  I cannot find any mention of
> it in the Changelog for the 2.16 gnome-panel sources, and I have
> no idea which of the dozens of development related mailing lists
> are related to gnome-panel development. 
>
> Keith
>
>