Re: tasklist/reusing gnome-panel



Hi,

Firstly, I would like to say what a great job the new GNOME-Shell overlay is -- it will really shift the way people cognitively interact with tasks, and I can see it working with both desktop PCs and future touch-based machines.

On the issue of how to display active tasks, I had actually already thought about that problem and submitted a posible solution on Brainstorm (for some strange reason).  I basically proposed addressing the problem by listing all open window tabs along the top window panel, a la Chrome.  (Ref: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/17241/ ) The window label text size per tab in Chrome is about the same size as the task list widgets people are used to using in GNOME and Windows.  Top-tab appearance and basic behavior would basically be like Chromes' except that I envision it would being system wide.  LIke-programs could be grouped into one window, but nonlike-programs could not.  (i.e. OO.o docs could be open and tabbed like in Symphony, but a GIMP tab could not be dragged into/merged with this type of window/task).  This would turn windows from individual instances of applications into "grouped like-tasks", and force unlike-tasks to be separate and easily distinguishable in the expose-esque panel view.  At least, that's the idea.

Anyway, I just want to through that out there and see what any real developers think of the idea.

--Brian


From: Neil J Patel <njpatel gmail com>
To: gnome-shell-list gnome org
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 1:00:18 PM
Subject: Re: tasklist/reusing gnome-panel

Hi,

2009/1/14 Johannes Schmid <jhs jsschmid de>:
> Hi!
>
>> > I would rather vote for a task list at the top. And not the normal task
>> > list as used in GNOME but something that is used in the Ubuntu Netbook
>> > Remix
>> > (http://www.hy-tech.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/ubuntu-netbook-remix.png). It's basically a normal task list but the non-active window collapses into an icon. It doesn't waste as much space as the taskbar and it avoids the need for a second panel.
>> Have you considered using Avant Window Navigator (AWN)? I've been using
>> it for some time now, and I must say while I'm no real fan of MacOS, the
>> dock concept is quite efficient and nice to use. AWN is really
>> customizable (bar height, decorations, theming...) so that it can fit
>> with gnome-shell in whatever way you want.
>
> Well, AWN is like a second panel and it never really worked well for me.
> In addition it wastes a lot of screen space when you don't make it
> auto-collapse (which is confusing...).

Yes, autohide in Awn does suck, but if we're talking about task
management capabilities (or at least the capabilities that will exist
in a few weeks time), then I don't think anything else comes close in
Gnome.

Awn is under going a rewrite[0] at present (and yes, it has done for
quite some time), a part of which is a brand-spanking new taskmanager,
separated from the core. Over the next couple of weeks, the
taskmanager rewrite will reach maturity and provide these
capabilities:

- Launcher support (like the dock: icon representing desktop file.
click to launch, will then control launched window, and will become
launcher again if window closed).
- Task support: normal windows that open during the session
- Startup-notification support
- Application/Arbitrary group support - drag-and-drop window icons
onto each other to create an icon group that controls the entire group
of windows)
- a (much nicer) dbus backend to allow applications to have custom
right-click menus, whether that's a context menu, or a mini-player
(i.e. Banshee)
- support for an document-based applications to set the uri of the
file they are displaying to allow for automatic entries into the
right-click menu to manipulate that file
- some other things that I can't think of right now :)

The code is pretty abstracted in that it the view object could
(pretty) easily be ported to a ClutterTexture, for instance. I'm open
to making it easier.

Fwiw, the netbook-remix[1] way of presenting open windows gets a big
thumbs up from nearly everyone who uses it, and has ended up on many
people's desktops' gnome-panel. The name of the applet is
window-picker-applet[2].

Kind regards,

Neil

(author of both Awn and Ubuntu Netbook Remix)

[0] https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~awn-core/awn/trunk-rewrite-and-random-breakage
[1] https://launchpad.net/unr
[2] https://launchpad.net/window-picker-applet


> Regards,
> Johannes
>
> _______________________________________________
> gnome-shell-list mailing list
> gnome-shell-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-shell-list
>
>
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