Re: Things I'd like to see in Gnome-Shell

["Jasper St. Pierre" <jstpierre mecheye net>]

On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 3:02 PM, GonzO <gonzo worlord com> wrote:
> I've been using G-S for a week, and like it.  I would really love, it if
> some of the below came true one day.  :-) I've looked around, and haven't
> seen the following things mentioned or suggested, so: the following are a
> list of things that would make it easier / better / more wonderful for me to
> use (in no particular order).
> *****
>
> - Icon Overlays on the window thumbnails in Activities -> Windows
> Use case: I enjoy the functionality of Activities->Windows, but I have the
> problem of not immediately being able to tell the thumbnails of the windows
> apart.
> Explanation: This happens disturbingly and surprisingly often, and it is
> because many application thumbnails look remarkably alike at-a-glance.
>  Example: Rhythmbox, Exaile, and Banshee (I was trying out music players).
>  EasyTag kind of looks like Nautilus from the correct angle.  Synaptic looks
> like... a lot of things.  Having the program's icon overlaid somewhere on
> the window's thumbnail would help out a lot here.

This used to be the case a long while ago, but it was removed because
it caused too much noise in grid mode. That said, given that this
change was made a long time ago, and there are plans to add the new
overview-only window borders[0], I think it would make to try and add
them back.

> - Option to keep the Dash persistently visible (on the desktop)
> Use case: I use Docky with G-S, even though G-S has the Dash, because the
> Dash hides itself from view once I leave activities.
>
> Explanation: I don't think I have much more to say, here: I think it is very
> useful to have my favorite program launchers always in sight and reachable
> with a simple click.  And knowing what is or is not open is useful to me
> (mostly so that I can know, at a glance, that there are programs out there I
> should kill before I launch that huge VM or intensive game).  Also, I find
> it quicker and more useful to be able to change focus (and raise the window
> of) an open app without having to go to Acitivites

I see this a lot. I want to do things *without* going to Activities.
So I raise the question, why is the Activities mode seen as a last
resort, why is it a nuisance to go to the overview?

I'm going to postulate that you're on a laptop with a touchpad, and
that dragging your finger to get to the other side of the screen is
somewhat annoying. If not, feel free to correct me. I'm going to
suggest that, if possible, we have a global touchpad hotspot: the
top-left corner (top-right in RTL) enters the overview without
changing the mouse position.

For those with real mice, I've found it quite easy to get into the
overview (just a quick flick of the wrist), but others have had
trouble.

> and even if it is hidden
> under other windows or on some other workspace.


> - Clicking on Panel->$application_name should show a vertical Global Menu
> Use Case: I just think it would be the bees knees if G-S would implement
> Global Menus as a vertical list, exposable by clicking the application's
> name in the Panel.
> Explanation: Given G-S's design principles and aesthetic, I actually
> half-expected this suggestion to already be in place, and was surprised to
> find out that clicking on the program's name in the Panel only presents me
> with a "Quit $Application" entry.  It is difficult to deny how much the
> removal of pull-down menus simplify and clean up every open application
> window, and as a vertical list, I think it is also difficult to deny how
> many space- and resolution- related problems this would actually fix.  Also,
> I think we'd have to do very little in the way of education, considering how
> many popular applications are moving to something like this.

Global menus have been discussed time and time again. There is a plan
to fix this -- Application global menu. This is a separate set of
menus that the application to use to represent application-global
things. For instance, imagine an application that represents one
document with one window: eog, LibreOffice, etc. The current set of
menus is a mix of application-global and document things. The
proposition is to remove application-global menu items from windows,
and prop them in the Application Button. This wasn't implemented in
time for 3.0, but I believe Colin Walters is working on it right.

> - A "Sink" Button
> Use case: I have grown accustomed to getting an app out of my sight
> instantly with nothing more than the click of a button.  There is currently
> no way to do this in G-S.
> Explanation: I know we've gotten rid of "Minimize," and intellectually, I am
> on-board with the reasoning behind this change.  Let me say that again: I do
> not want the minimize button or concept to return.  I am perfectly happy
> with moving something to a new workspace.  I DO, however, wish there were a
> way to get an application window out of my sight as simply and easily as I
> could when I had a minimize button.  (And yes, I think it goes without
> saying that the four-part act of Activities, Click, Drag, Click is not at
> all as quick or easy as pushing the "minimize" button).  A "sink" button
> would be like a minimize button (in that it is just as quick, easy, and
> intuitive); however, what it would actually do is throw the window to the
> same X/Y position on $workspace_below (with an appropriate "sinking"
> animation in Clutter showing it go).  It's icon should be a down-arrow.

"sinking" or "parking" have been proposed before. I'm not sure where
the designers fall on this, but just ask them!

> - Expose Keyboard Shortcuts
> Use case: It would be nice to summon a list of all of G-S's keyboard
> shortcuts from an easily-discoverable place in the Shell
> Explanation: More than many times, both on this mailing list and elsewhere,
> questions about Gnome Shell have been answered with a simple keyboard
> combination.  Example Question: "Why isn't there a way to more easily switch
> workspaces?"  Example Answer: "CTRL+ALT+Down arrow."  While I harbor
> misgivings about this sort of answer (and further misgivings about this
> actually being the answer, in some cases), that is all beside the point,
> which is: G-S apparently does a lot of nifty / convenient / surprisingly
> awesome things via-keyboard shortcut, but there is no place within the shell
> (that I can see, anyway) to find out what all of these secret shortcuts are.
>  The keyboard settings app lists some of them, but some of them are
> also deprecated, and some of them aren't there at all.  For example, the
> surprising and powerful CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+R (Blew.  My.  Mind.  Is there
> more of that anyone can point me to??  I've noticed there is a "cheat sheet"
> out there; if this is complete, I'd like a way to summon this list in
> Activities or something.)
>
> - Mouse shortcut for switching workspaces
> Use case: I would like an easier way to toggle between workspaces that does
> not involve using the keyboard or going to Activities.
> Explanation: What it says on the box... and also something I thought would
> have been implemented already.  Something like CTRL+ALT+Down/Up arrow, but
> without needing to revert to a key combo.  Like clicking on the desktop and
> using the scroll wheel, or being able to click-and-drag(up/down) the desktop
> itself to "throw" workspaces up or down.
>
> - Move the categories list in Activities -> Applications to the left
> Use case: I think it makes more sense from a spacial and progressive
> perspective to have the category list on the left, rather than the right.
> Explanation: I understand that G-S is trying to split up usefulness and
> functionality by using the sides of the screen as much as possible, so I
> can't say with 100% certainty that this is a good idea (I can practically
> hear people shouting "Fitts Law!" right now).    However, from a mouse-only
> (not involving the keyboard) perspective, the current method makes less
> sense from a "flow" point of view.  Right now, to launch an applicaiton, we:
> go all the way to the upper left; then click the word "applications"(also
> toward the left); zig all the way right and select a category, then zag back
> to the left to select an icon.  I think it would be easier on mouse-loving
> users like me if the four-step progression outlined above could start all
> the way at the top left, and progress towards the bottom-right with every
> step: Upper-left corner (Activities); Move right and down (Applications);
> Move right and down (Category); Move right and down (Application Icon).
>  There are some cases where one will be moving up and down out of order, but
> the flow would constantly be moving from left to right for sure.

The categories in Applications are planning on being removed, for
reasons I do agree with. The current menu categories are muddled and
used inconsistently. Some apps put themselves in four or five
categories to be easily findable when they do meet all of those
categories. If we're trying to work around this by playing games with
the category system, well, let's just remove it.

> *****
> I may come up with more as time goes on as I keep using the product and
> note-taking.  I'd love to hear what people think, or if there is some other
> channel (Bugzilla?  Whiteboard?) I should be using to submit these ideas.

IRC. #gnome-design on irc.gnome.org.

>  Also, if some have been rejected, I'd like to go and read the explanations
> as to why, if available.

> --G
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>

-- 
  Jasper

[0] https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=650254