Re: Proposal for ConfigureRequest handling

[Owen Taylor <otaylor redhat com>]

Hmm, so I guess there are two problems:

 - If DTWM and MWM do the wrong thing, it's probably hard
   to get Java to just always do the right thing.

 - It's probably hard to get window managers authors
   to just let broken applications be broken.

I really think it's best to say:

 - There is a single correct behavior for window managers
   (what the ICCCM requires)

 - If this required behavior doesn't meet the needs of
   applications, then we extend the NET WM spec to allow
   alternate behaviors. 

   (I believe the ICCCM behavior is perfectly OK for placement,
   but there are some brokeness in the Java specification
   for how window sizing works that it can't handle.)

 - Window managers MAY use alternate placing behaviors
   for particular apps that they believe are non-conformant,
   but they MUST NOT do so for any app that indicates
   that it supports the NET WM spec. (Insert definition of 
   what indicates support for the NET WM spec.)

 - Applications MAY try to accomodate particular window 
   managers with incorrect placement algorithm, but they 
   MUST NOT do so if the window manager supports the NET WM
   spec.

The burden has to be on window managers that care about
ICCCM non-conformant applications, not on conformant
applications or on window managers that only handle
properly behaving applications.

There should no method of indicating "I'm non-conformant"
because that's just silly. If an app or window manager
could be modified to indicate that it was non-conformant,
it could just as easily be fixed to be conformant.

Regards,
                                        Owen