Re: [orca-list] how to access top panel with orca in Ubuntu 10.04

[Joanmarie Diggs <joanmarie diggs gmail com>]

Hey Jacob.

> Is indicator-applet something Ubuntu-specific or is GNOME in general
> adopting it?

Well.... I believe it's Ubuntu-specific. There was an interesting blog
entry a few days ago. [1] In it (under the "Nuke the entire site from
orbit - it's the only way to be sure" heading), it says:

> In Ubuntu 10.04, weâve introduced the sound menu, which replaces the
> Gnome volume applet; and the âmeâ menu, which replaces the items for
> setting your status in various instant messaging programs.
>
> In Ubuntu 10.10, we plan to introduce a power menu, which replaces the
> Gnome Power Manager applet; a network menu, which replaces the Network
> Manager applet (nm-applet); and a clock menu, or time and date menu,
> that replaces the Gnome clock applet. Weâll also be extending the
> sound menu, to replace the notification area items for music players.
> We will be posting more about these and other menus, and asking for
> feedback on our designs, in the coming weeks.
>
> The pattern here is that everything is becoming a menu. And further,
> everything is becoming a single set of menus. You can see glimmerings
> of this in Ubuntu 10.04: for example, if you click on the messaging
> menu by mistake instead of the sound menu, you can just slide straight
> over to the sound menu without having to click again. (Currently, this
> is implemented using two panel applets, indicator-applet and
> indicator-applet-session. Weâll be consolidating this in future Ubuntu
> versions.)

Nowhere in that entry do I see a reference to GNOME incorporating this
or that Canonical is working with upstream to get these changes
included. Although the next paragraph after what I quoted is:

> Our roadmap is that in Ubuntu 11.04, one year from now, there will be
> no notification area. And in Ubuntu Netbook Edition, weâll remove it
> even earlier, in 10.10. So if you develop an application that uses the
> notification area, and you want the millions of Ubuntu users to be
> able to use it, now is the time to change it.

So there you go....

--joanie

[1] http://design.canonical.com/2010/04/notification-area/