Re: My comments on 1.9b

["Bradley T. Hughes" <bhughes tcac net>]

On 26 Oct 1999, Owen Taylor wrote:

> Since everybody else is getting into the act, I thought
> I should type up my notes I made while reading the
> spec a while ago.
> 
> Regards,
>                                         Owen
> 
> 
>  * We should replace the MWM hints completely. They were
>    never formally specified. Window managers would presumably
>    honor the MWM hints in the case where the new hints
>    were not set.

i agree

>  * Several places comments in the spec worry about bit fields
>    not being extensible without changing the spec. I don't see this
>    as a problem - window managers should not add to these
>    fields in a non-standard fashion.
> 
> 1.
> 
>   * _NET_CLIENT_LIST _NET_CLIENT_LIST_STACKING:
> 
>     What is the interpretation of these properties with respect
>     to windows on multiple desktops? Are windows on all desktops
>     listed? What is "STACKING" order for windows on different desktops?

personally... i am a fan of incremental updates (ala kde 1.x)... i'm not
too keen on the idea of having to keep an array updated on the root
window... even with PropMode(Pre|Ap)pend... it seems like excessive
roundtrips to the X server...

flames anyone? :)

>  * _NET_NUMBER_OF_DESKTOPS _NET_DESKTOP_GEOMETRY: 
> 
>     The ability for a client to change the number of desktops
>     insert/delete desktops or change desktop geometry seems like a
>     bad idea. There are a lot of unresolved questions about
>     what happens to client windows on a deleted desktop or area.
> 
>     This strikes me as being more WM configuration then something
>     a client should care about.
> 
>  * _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW:
>  
>     What is an "active" window? How does this differ from
>     focused window? What does "activating" a window on a
>     different desktop mean since you can't give it the
>     input focus? Should WM implementations switch desktops?
> 
>  2.
> 
>  * _NET_WM_MOVERESIZE:
> 
>     What is the rational for needing this?
>     How does the "MOVE" part of this work?
>     There probably should be the ability to not specify
>     a resize direction. (Many window managers have some
>     way of starting a resize other than dragging on the
>     border)
> 
> 3.
>  
>  * _NET_WM_LAYER: DESKTOP. 
> 
>     Unless the spec is going to _mandate_ the use of a huge
>     file manager bg window (pissing some WM authors off),
>     the use of this layer for shaped desktop icons should be
>     mentioned as well.

i agree

>  * _NET_WM_SIZEMOVE_NOTIFY:
> 
>     There are some alternative ways, such as queueing to get
>     the performance increase without causing the complexity
>     overhead. Is this really needed?
> 
>  
> 6. File Manager desktop
>    
>   IMO, this should be left out of the initial spec since there is
>   not a consensus on this issue. (?)
> 
> 
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__________________________________

Bradley T. Hughes <bhughes@tcac.net>