Modern desktops
Modern desktops
Posted Apr 14, 2011 20:53 UTC (Thu) by Frej (guest, #4165)In reply to: Modern desktops by Zizzle
Parent article: Ubuntu reaffirms Unity plan for 11.04
Corbet has 20 years of habituation to fight against, why should he bother to change? It's perfectly reasonable that he doesn't want to. But that doesn't give you the right to have everyone else to adapt their work to your habits.
So trying again:
X wants to do software for a well defined group, that might be at odds with those who used unix for 20 years.
You the have to accept that those who create X also decides who their supposed user is.
So it's given that they implement, say click to focus because this feature helps the majority target.
What's next? Do another feature which helps their target or implement FFM, because someone says he wants it, because that is his workflow? He might try to wrap it as 'breakage' or 'long established' feature, but it's all about him trying to make others scratch his back for him.
Posted Apr 14, 2011 21:30 UTC (Thu)
by Zizzle (guest, #67739)
[Link] (4 responses)
FFM users will just go somewhere else, and quite frankly, I think you and GNOME have made it pretty clear that you don't want people like Corbet or me around anymore. The "it's our way or the highway" message is loud and clear.
We will go to a WM that works, or where our mods to make it work will be appreciated. That's the beauty of free software, and I'm glad for that ability.
GNOME and Unity have made it clear they don't want FFM to work. Efficiency is not a goal, eye candy is.
The Unity global menu fundamentally doesn't work with FFM. I don't think there is any sort of fixing that can be done. They just aren't compatible - if your mouse traverses another app on the way to the top panel they you can't get the menu you intend.
I don't see any demands, just dismay of how it has come about and that the desktop we have used for so long doesn't want us as users anymore.
There are a couple of people here claiming that FFM is broken, useless and unwanted. A number of people have voiced opinions otherwise.
GNOME and Unity aren't the great steps forward they are made out to be.
Posted Apr 14, 2011 23:28 UTC (Thu)
by madscientist (subscriber, #16861)
[Link] (3 responses)
Personally I think the global menu ITSELF is just a wrong idea from first principles, unless you're on a pretty small screen. There's a lot of very good common sense in this comment for example: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/6830...
However, that's a whole other discussion.
My first comment was just that there were three major usability issues raised during the process to decide if Unity was ready or not, and one of them (FFM) was not mentioned further in the summary. It seems clear that (a) there are a sizeable number of people who feel that this is an important regression in functionality between the Ubuntu 10.10 desktop and the 11.04 desktop, (b) the Unity team has no solution today, and (c) they have no plans to implement a solution.
Posted Apr 15, 2011 16:31 UTC (Fri)
by tjc (guest, #137)
[Link] (2 responses)
I think that solution would probably lead to what I call "electric fence syndrome," which is the feeling of apprehension one gets when wandering too close to an electric fence, or moving one's mouse pointer too close to a mouse-over javascript menu, or working with an FTP connection with a 15-second timeout. Agreed. I use a Mac at work (they took away my workstation :( ), and after a year of regular use I still find global menus to be a constant nuisance. I think people who have a deliberate workflow wouldn't notice the difference, but I find any unnecessary UI interaction distracting, or in some cases even irritating. I have a friend who maximizes all his windows and then minimizes them all except the one he's currently using. To change windows he minimizes the current window, hunts around on the task bar for the window he wants, and then restores it. It takes him about 5 or 6 seconds to change windows. Just watching the process makes me want to scream — it's like watching a 2-year-old kid throw a ball. "You can do it! you can do it! throw the ball!!!" I expect this is the sort of user Ubuntu is targeting. They probably don't have very may users like this now, which could be a problem for them.
Posted Apr 17, 2011 13:23 UTC (Sun)
by madscientist (subscriber, #16861)
[Link] (1 responses)
Heh :-)
However, it depends on whether you believe one of the main justifications for the global menu. By putting the menu at the top of the screen your menu becomes "infinitely high"; you don't need to aim your mouse, you can just throw it up the screen, since when it hits the top it will stop. If that's how it works then "electric fence syndrome" might not be such a problem.
Posted Apr 18, 2011 2:34 UTC (Mon)
by bronson (subscriber, #4806)
[Link]
Modern desktops
Modern desktops
Modern desktops
For example, if FFM is enabled you could introduce a delay before the global menu is changed, when focus changes due to mouse movement (click would change the menu immediately of course). It's not ideal to be sure but it would normally be enough to allow you to use the menus.
Personally I think the global menu ITSELF is just a wrong idea from first principles, unless you're on a pretty small screen.
Modern desktops
> syndrome," which is the feeling of apprehension one gets when wandering
> too close to an electric fence, or moving one's mouse pointer too close
> to a mouse-over javascript menu, or working with an FTP connection with a
> 15-second timeout.
Modern desktops