xfce version 3 vs. 4 : missing features?

[David F. Skoll]

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003, Rich Shepard wrote:

>   When we strip away all the surface arguments the problem core is this: we
> each have a different, preferred way to work. Unlike in the Microsoft world
> we're used to choices, not to having the One True Way forced upon us.

Amen!  This is the essence of my griping. :-)

I started using UNIX in 1989, using twm on a Sun3.  I customized the
keys just the way I liked them, and I've used those keys ever since.

When I moved to Linux, I used twm, and then ctwm.  I used KDE for a
while because I had to (I was writing a book about it), but nuked it
as soon as I could.  XFCE, back in 1999, was the first new environment
I found that was unobtrusive and let me keep my old keystrokes.

After 14 years, I'm not about to learn new desktop habits.  I think
it's fine and wonderful that XFCE-4 has introduced all kinds of new
ways of doing things.  But please let me keep my customizability.
There's a worrying trend to "dumb-down" UNIX/Linux desktop software,
making it less and less configurable.  I lament the fact that XFCE has
*lost* configurability in the move from 3 to 4.

Regards,

David.