Re: [Usability] KDE and GNOME ideas.

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 auto496138 hushmail com wrote:

> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:33:06 -0700
> From: auto496138 hushmail com
> To: usability gnome org
> Cc: hig gnome org
> Subject: [Usability] KDE and GNOME ideas.
>
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> Hi,
> I don't want to sign myself to a mailinglist so I have send my gnome/kde
> feedback to you.

Please do not crosspost to more than one list at a time.

You really should sign up to a list at least temporarily if you want
your requests to be taken seriously.

> I have got some ideas for the KDE and GNOME desktops that I'd like to
> share with you.
>
> When you click on the taskbar, (the taskbar that is pushed out of the
> gnome/kde panel to load a program), the taskbar disappears.
> But linux is multitasking, so the taskbar shouldn't go away, it should
> stay. If you have clicked on a program the taskbar should stay  so you
> can click on another program.

The taskbar can be set to always be shown.
In Gnome, right click on a blank part of the Panel and choose
Preferences/Properties and turn off the Autohide option.

> Apple's new osx has got a nice graphical login program. If you want to
> become a different user you don't have to log out first if you are logged
> in graphically. If you want to login as a different user you login from
> an active running apple graphical enviroment directly.

I believe the desktop developers are familiar with this system of fast
user switching.  The GDM (Gnome Desktop Manager, the login screen program)
developers would be the best people to ask about this.

I know workarounds exist and it is possible that something simliar may
already exist for Gnome but as I have no need for it I cannot tell you for
sure.  (I know Sun Microsystems have some advanced systems allowing users
to switch quickly and easily and between different machines using a
smartcard to login, it is quite impressive).

> Is it possible to program a rule that makes it impossible to have different
> kinds of windows borders at the same time. If  there is a program with
> a different border the desktop environment should automatically give
> the program the current desktop environment windowborder. Different kinds
> of windows borders on one desktop look sloppy.

The Window Manager - which in Gnome is usually a program called Metacity -
should be making sure that all windows have a consistant border.
Perhaps there is some detail I'm missing but as far as I can see I already
do have consistant window borders.

> It might be a good idea to have the possibility to have multiple programs
> in one window.

It might not be.

Some people, myself included, think that Window in Window (WiW) designs
are just compensating for bad window managers and task lists.  WiW design
forces developers to repeat much of the functionality already provided by
the window manager.

Also GTK does not provide much support for this type of application
design, it would be difficult to make a GTK application like that even if
a developer wanted to.

Instead developers have experimented with tabbed interfaces, and docking
dialogs together.  For example
http://anjuta.sourceforge.net/anjuta.php?page=screenshots


Thanks for your feedback but I dont have time to respond further

Sincerely

Alan Horkan