Defaults

[Ric]

--- Olivier Fourdan <fourdan at xfce.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I just had a talk (by email) with Eugenia and she raises a few issues
> with our default config.

Oh God, I hope she likes XFce...


> In a nutshell:
> 
> 1) The pager is in both the panel and the taskbar. We shoud avoid
>    duplication.

This is a good idea, IMO.  Two graphical pagers is a bit much(to me).


> => should we keep the pager in the taskbar or in the panel?
>    - we could remove the pager from the pager and keep the graphical
>      pager in the panel

That would work for an initial config (i'm sure you mean remove the 
pager from the taskbar).  It does not show the nice pager in the taskbar 
but sometimes less is more.


>    - we could keep the pager in the taskbar and use the button desktop 
>      switcher in the panel (that would also ease migration from
>      previous xfce versions)

This is a good working config too but I am prejudiced because I like XFce 3. 
It also happens to be the way I use XFce 4. 


>    - We could remove the pager from the taskbar and keep the graphical 
>      pager in the panel

It is very handy/quick to be able to switch workspaces from both locations 
on the screen.


> 2) Use "Xfce" theme as default gtk theme. Eugenia seems to like the 
>    "Xfce" theme+engine :)
> => Done in CVS.

I think the default xfwm4 theme should have the rounded edges IMO.  
It's spiffier ;) ,  so use the "default" xfwm4 theme too.


> 3) Strong one: Use the right mouse button to access xfdesktop menu 
>    instead of the right button. She insists a lot on this one.
> => I tend to agree with her on this topic (sorry Jasper...)
>    My proposal: Use middle mouse button for task list and right
>    mouse button for menu. Left mouse button does nothing (and can
>    be kept for later use) 

What is wrong with the current default?  (Am I spoiled because of XFce 3?)
I do not care if the menu gets switched to the right button (I'll adjust) but 
Gnome2 has that "left does nothing" and it sux. It is counter intuitive. The
left 
button is the primary button - it should access a menu or something useful.  
MS Windows-like, Gnome-like, <whatever> like is the wrong way to go IMO.
MS does not have the primary button for <whatever> because the primary button 
is used to select items on the desktop. That's the only reason, AFAIK.

There is another thing that should be considered: How "accessible" is
redefining 
the mouse buttons to where coordination of the fingers is required?  To us 
right click with second/third finger-> menu, then scroll mouse to item and
then left 
click with index finger to select an item is relatively easy.  It is not that
way for 
some people. The left click "menu" is a good accesibility feature.  It is just
a thought.

By the way, sometimes the middle mouse button is not present, for various
reasons, 
and depending on it to be there might cause trouble.  Also, getting the middle
mouse 
button or clicking two buttons at the same time to work without scrolling can
be a 
bit difficult sometimes.  Scrolling the mouse on the XFce desktop is a bad
thing unless 
you do it on purpose.  It is just another thought.

A better long term solution might be to include a widget in the mcs-plugin
that allows 
the end-user to decide which button does what, similar to the way it is in
XFce3 
but easier than in XFce 3. (iknow, i know "not for 4.0.0"...)
One way is to duplicate the "Button Layout" from the Window Manager settings
but 
change the listed items to menu, all workspaces windowlist, current workspace
windowlist, 
task list, etc.  The mouse_plugins display would look a lot like the WM
"Button Layout" 
widget.
         Button Settings
* Left handed  * Right Handed

                1  2  3  4  5   ...
menu        *  *  *  *  *  
list 1         *  *  *  *  *  
list 2         *  *  *  *  *  
list 3 ....

That way you do not have to deal with those that _insist_ XFce is 
supposed to be just like some other DE.  XFce is not Gnome! ( or MS Windows )
It also will make XFce4 an even more useful and accessible DE.

I suppose that is a 4.2ish thing but if you plan on it now, you will not have
to 
change the current setup and 4.0.0 can get released from RC2(i hope).

Of course, as always, this is your DE. Y'all have done great work and if you
want to 
appease miss Eugenia by changing things, well, you can, of course, ignore 
my 2 cents.

In any event, RC2 looks real good (so far) the way it is!

> Cheers,
> -- 
> Olivier Fourdan - fourdan at xfce.org




=====
Have A Great Day!

Ric
***
Thought for today:
The price of freedom is responsibility, but it's a bargain, because freedom is priceless. 
~ Hugh Downs

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