Re: Pager/switcher per workspace or per screen

["Thomas Thurman" <thomas thurman org uk>]

On 08/08/07, Mark Tiefenbruck <mark fluxbox org> wrote:
> On 08/08/07, Thomas Thurman <thomas thurman org uk> wrote:
> > The pager is not necessarily controlling the behaviour of alt-tab. It
> > might be worthwhile for the pager and the WM to communicate about
> > whether windows from all workspaces should be shown or just the
> > current workspace, and in fact we have had a nontrivial number of
> > people requesting this behaviour. There's no sane place to do this
> > other than using EWMH-style hints.
>
> I've seen requests for alt-tab to allow switching between all managed
> windows on the screen. I still don't see what this has to do with the
> pager.

The window list can show all managed windows, or just the ones on the
current workspace. Alt-tab can show all managed windows, or just the
ones on the current workspace. Havoc[1] and Rob Adams[2] at least
thought these were two sides of the same coin, and that nobody would
want to turn one on without the other. Perhaps they were wrong, I
don't know. (Daniel Seifert disagreed. [3])

[1] http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=143511#c0
[2] http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=131702#c1
[3] http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=143511#c9

> Certainly the pager is showing all workspaces, anyway, or else
> it's not much of a pager.

The window list isn't showing all workspaces, though. Sorry for any confusion.

> > No, because alt-tab should be implemented by the window manager.
> > Allowing a pager to become a window manager is a recipe for pain.
>
> I don't see why it must be implemented by the window manager.

Well, no, I don't think it's set in stone anywhere, but I don't recall
running into many arrangements where it wasn't implemented by the WM.

> For
> instance, I see http://code.google.com/p/superswitcher/ as a perfectly
> reasonable application. These sorts of programs are exactly what EWMH
> is for, in my opinion.

You don't think EWMH is also for allowing parts of a desktop
environment to communicate interchangeably?

T