desktop-packages team mailing list archive

[Jan Bakuwel <160311@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John,

On 22/12/11 01:59, John Lea wrote:
> @jan-bakuwel-gmail; in what way is the current Ubuntu window resizing
> behaviour different from the Microsoft window resizing behaviour?  In
> both Windows and Ubuntu we have several px on the left, right and bottom
> of the windows that is dragable, in fact I think the dragable area in
> Ubuntu is slightly larger.  We *do* have a bug with the dragable area at
> the top of a window, but are there any other issues you are aware of?
>

This issue has been dragging on for so long I've grown tired of it.

Have you ever tried using a touchpad to resize a window with a default
Ubuntu 11.10 installation on a laptop with a high resolution screen?
I've given up on it on Ubuntu 10.04 and have gotten used to Alt - Right
Click to resize windows until I have time to write a program that can
read my mind as I don't think this will ever be fixed on Ubuntu 10.04.

I can't use Ubuntu 11.10 as yet as Unity is buggy and even if it would
not be buggy it still is a much lesser fit to my needs than Gnome 2. I
might be forced to stay with Ubuntu 10.04 for a few more years as I
think Unity need a lot more work before it's usable for anything more
than occasional desktop work. Fortunately support for 10.04 has been
extended - I assume for obvious reasons?

The point many people are trying to make is that resizing windows needs
to be intuitive.
Dare I say that something that is intuitive should no more depend on the
selected theme as it would on the selected background image?

It has been intuitive on Windows since 3 (can't remember Windows <3
sorry :-P), as well as on any incarnation of Mac OS but somehow we seem
to continue to have to debate and explain something that I would
consider really really obvious.

Perhaps the developers should simply use a laptop with a touchpad and
high resolution screen and see if they can resize windows without
inflicting RSI on themselves. If they can't, it's not fixed, no matter
what technical arguments are put forward.

regards,
Jan

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to metacity in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/160311

Title:
  Resizing windows by grabbing window borders is difficult

Status in Ayatana Design:
  Fix Released
Status in One Hundred Paper Cuts:
  Fix Released
Status in The Metacity Window Manager:
  In Progress
Status in Release Notes for Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in Unity 2D:
  New
Status in “human-gtk-theme” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in “light-themes” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “metacity” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “human-gtk-theme” source package in Maverick:
  Invalid
Status in “light-themes” source package in Maverick:
  Triaged
Status in “metacity” source package in Maverick:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  *************
  >>>> No more comments needed <<<<

  This should mostly be fixed for Natty and might get backported to
  earlier releases as well.

  *************

  *************Blueprint for Natty, Ubuntu 11.04:

  https://blueprints.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/packageselection-
  dx-n-resizing-windows

  Work items1 * Make sure the new resize grip fits in current applications; doesn't interfere with anything. We should make some noise about this during the Natty cycle so people keep their eyes open and file bugs.
  2 * Invisible window resize area - around 3px invisible area to allow resize on all sides.

  *************

  Working grip backported to gtk2 already available in ppa :
  https://launchpad.net/~bratsche/+archive/gtk

  *************

  Workaround:  Edit /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/metacity-1/metacity-
  theme-1.xml.  Set the following values in frame_geometry_normal as
  desired:

          <distance name="left_width" value="3"/>
          <distance name="right_width" value="3"/>
          <distance name="bottom_height" value="3"/>

  ************

  Binary package hint: metacity

  - The issue has been an issue for users (especially of large) screens
  for several releases- Trackpad users seem to be particularly impacted
  by this- The issue appears to have been significantly aggravated in
  Lucid by changing the border width from 3 pixels to 1 pixel

  The window borders in metacity are far too thin to be used for
  comfortable window resizing, and resize handles are not available in
  all applications (or even most). In fact, of all the windows I have
  open right now, not a single one of them has a resize handle. The
  result is that I get a lot of "misses" when I try to drag a window
  border, which usually results in my clicking on the wrong window
  altogether. The best fix for this usability bug is to create an
  "invisible" region around each non-maximized window about 4px thick
  that can be used for resizing (in addition to the visible border). Or
  perhaps there should be a border thickness option on the System >
  Preferences > Windows dialog (although the default thickness should
  still be increased considerably). Ideally all windows would also have
  a resize handle but I realize that these have to be application
  controlled (at least that seems to be the position of the metacity
  team).

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