Re: My opinions on Gnome Shell

[Julien Olivier <julo42 gmail com>]

> Minimization does not exist in gnome shell, at least not as part of
> the new workflow. It does exist as a vestigial trace of the old one, a
> sign of how things used to work, but it has no place in the way things
> work now, and I wouldn't be surprised if the ability to minimize
> totally disappears in 3.2, even from the Alt+Space menu.

Well, that's the point of the discussion: you are saying that
minimization doesn't exist anymore in gnome shell, and I'm saying that
maybe if *should* be kept because it is actually useful. So, saying that
it is not a solution because it is going to be removed is a bit too
easy :)

>  
>         When new solutions are developed, then - and only then - can
>         minimization be declared obsolete.
> 
> Quite the opposite. Exposing underlying problems is a vital step to
> solve them. Giving prominence to minimization "until a real solution
> arrives" is, IMO, sweeping the dirt under the carpet. And it's a great
> way to make sure that a real solution never comes.
>  

I agree that, if it really has to go, removing it right now is the best
way to make it easy to spot the problems. Now, as I've just said, I am
actually proposing to just keep minimization alive because - and that's
the point of the whole discussion - I think it is useful and isn't
really harmful.



> That's the case with applications that only have one window, e.g.
> Totem. Not with applications that can have multiple windows, e.g.
> Firefox, for which a new, empty window is created.

Actually, if the application has several windows, among which one is
minimized, clicking the launcher icon will present one of the windows of
the application, not create a new one. But it is still a problem as
there is not particular reason, in this case, for the minimized window
to be presented instead of one of the other non-minimized ones...

>  
>         
>         As I already said in another email, to avoid duplicity, just
>         assign the close button to "minimize" for applications that
>         need it. Then, specify it in the desktop file.
> 
> And whose work would that be? Gnome developers? Distributions? Me, my
> mom?
> 

Applications developers. If they fail to it properly, distributions.
Exactly like every other property in the desktop files.