Re: [Ayatana] Deprecation of the "Window" Metaphor

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 2011-01-02 at 06:55 +0100, frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> now here's a list of example solutions how one can design something
> without
> "window" in mind:
> * OLPC's Sugar: http://www.collabora.co.uk/services/case-studies/olpc
> * Ubuntu's: http://blog.canonical.com/?p=379
> * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxpzNGppcbs ( XMONAD Demo on Compiz
> 0.9 )

You keep talking about the window metaphor as if it was clearly defined.
At the core a window is a usually rectangular area that tends to have a
frame, size and position handled by a system component and a content
area controlled by an application.

The term "window" quite likely came to be because you have a view onto
something.

Disallowing overlapping to have only full-screen or tiling instead thus
sounds like a weak reason to call them something else.


> I don't think that windows as they are getting in our way at all, i
> just think we have already chosen to go along another path, as above
> design documents and demos sufficiently indicate.

Here, first you state there is no motivation to change.
Then you talk about a "we" that doesn't exist.
Then you claim a decision has been made and a path has been stepped on,
but both is far from being clear.

I might be pedantic, but a little more intellectual discipline would
really help.

Lke usual, this should be about why to change something, what to change
and how.


The advantage of using as much of the screen as possible for a single
application is obvious, at least to anyone who ever worked with a
graphics application.

The need to have more than one thing/application/task on the screen at
once should be clear, too. You might have to compare documents, need a
reference for something you are drawing, be following a tutorial,
discussing a website on IRC ...
It seems all of this can be handled with tiling and does not call for
overlapping windows.

With overlapping windows, you need to have a z-stack and you have to
define raise/sink behavior. That's quite a price to pay. So what's the
advantage of overlapping windows over tiling?

Sometimes you might need to see only part of another window. A tiling
approach could allow that, too, but it might increase complexity.
A partly obscured window is in a state that is kind of between fully
shown and hidden. For me personally, the most interesting aspect is
being able to change between 2, maybe 3 or 4 windows very quickly, due
to having very large target areas. But them I use focus-follows-mouse
and auto-raise without delay, settings I can't recommend, as common
window-managers do things that mean you have to use alt-tab (or similar)
in combination to get out of some unfortunate situations.


-- 
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/