Re: Window controls for GNOME 3

[Pat Suwalski <pat suwalski net>]

On 25/02/11 02:20 PM, Sriram Ramkrishna wrote:
> So out of curiosity, what sort of  tasks do both you and Robert do if
> you don't mind me being nosy?

Normal day-to-day work and development. I have tonnes of windows opened, 
because I have to.

I alt-tab between windows (Process/Window Grouping makes this a real 
pain), minimize them when I need to focus (mentally). When I don't need 
one (usually a browser), I use Ctrl-W or Ctrl-Q to close it. I only use 
the close button when my left hand isn't free, in fact (coffee?). 
Occasionally alt-F4 is appropriate if the others aren't implemented and 
my hands are already on the keyboard.

When there's a terminal with an "ssh -X" session, I don't care to have 
it on my desktop. Same with the output from the programs I'm working on 
(unless they crash and I have to review).

I depend on the panel list of icons, because they show me a one-to-one 
mapping of my windows, minimized or not, *in the order I opened them*. 
This is where the Win7 strip definitely doesn't cut it for me, 
gnome-shell makes it much more difficult, and MacOSX makes me somewhat 
unproductive.

Lastly, I absolutely hate virtual desktops. That might be an 
overstatement, but I avoid using them. Things get lost very easily, and 
it's a pain to set them up on every boot. I find a single desktop over 
two monitors the right balance. I'll keep a blank extra virtual desktop 
for when I need to quickly do something in programs that open way too 
many windows, like Gimp. That last example is the only thing I like 
about the concept of workspaces in Mutter.

I think a better example, though, might be my brother. He's a 
uni-student/gamer, and he doesn't like to reboot, ever. He has at any 
given time, at least 25 Firefox or Chrome tabs open. He has at least 20 
windows in his panel as well, right where he likes them. I predict that 
he would be very uncomfortable without that window-to-panel relation as 
well.

Thanks,
--Pat