Re: [Usability] Re: Screenshots as videos

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

> Just got started on some documentation stuff today, and I want to
> revisit this thread, since I don't remember a consensus ever being
> reached.

So my comments that a Screen Recorder is a different application from Take
Screenshot didn't do it for you then?

> The more I think about it, the more I think having the 'Take Screenshot'
> menu item bring up a "What do you want to do?" dialog is the best route.

Stop for a second.  Read that back to yourself.

The users chooses to Take a Screenshot.
"What do you want to do?"

Take a screenshot, they have already said so.
Why second guess the user?

Why ask them if what they really wanted to do was to make a video
recording of their desktop?  It is an insult to their intelligence and
once they have discovered a screen recorder exists you are only
complicating it by putting it in the same dialog take screenshot.

We should have one menu item for "Take a Screenshot" and another for
"Record Desktop" and let the user make the choice earlier rather than
over-complicating the existing Screenshot dialog.

> I have three reasons, one of which is selfish:
>
> 1) In order to ensure that I take screenshots with all the default
> settings, I have a seperate user on my account.  It's really handy
> to be able to run that user's desktop in xnest.  But I can't do the
> Alt+Printscreen trick, because my top-level session eats it.  Being
> able to do a single window screenshot without a global keybinding
> would help me a lot.

There is a bug report requesting this feature, several approaches have
been suggested but I'm not sure if it has been fixed yet.

And then there is the GIMP (and the option to take screenshots without
window decorations was added back in case you have a version missing the
feature).

> So, more thoughts on this beaten thread?

Loads more ... but I'll finish with the classic bit of software design:

Do one thing well.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan.

P.S. Who is implementing what?