Re: [Ayatana] Application Menus in Unity

[Adrian Maier <syraxes@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 18:27, Mark Curtis <merkinman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> "Make it configurable" is not the answer to a (poor?) design.

Configurability is about letting the user adapt the working
environment to his/her particular needs.


> Configurability can be a nightmare, you need to not only make sure that
> module A works with module B, but that module A (configured in X, Y, or Z
> behavior) works with module B (configured in X, Y, or Z behavior).

I'm not sure about what modules do you have in mind.

What I am thinking about is to be able to choose things like :
- global menu enabled or not
- global menu autohiding or not
- control the position of every item of the launcher
- "ubuntu" button opens either the dash or a classic menu
- enable/disable various lenses
- display Trash or not
- display Workspaces inside the launcher , or not . Or , display it
alone in the right bottom corner , or in the middle of the screen
whatever.
- etc, etc, etc


> Even if everything were configurable, there would need to be a sensible
> default, and we'd be right back at this discussion anyway.

A "delayed" discussion would have better results.  When people have
the chance to try various configurations they can advocate a specific
default setting   based on live experience, not on static "mockups".



>> Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2011 15:23:36 +0300
>> From: syraxes@xxxxxxxxx
>> To: niklas.s.rosenqvist@xxxxxxxxx
>> CC: ayatana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [Ayatana] Application Menus in Unity
>>
>> Hello guys,
>>
>> The essential problem of the global menu is that its behavior is
>> fixed, unchangeable, locked and non-configurable. This is the first
>> needed step , before discussing anything about changing the default
>> settings.
>>
>> Right now the users have only two options : like it or dislike it.
>> There is no possibility to disable the autohide feature. And it's not
>> possible to disable the global menu (uninstalling the package, or
>> editing the bashrc, are not acceptable ways to disable).
>>
>> Having such config options would greatly decrease the amount of
>> discussions on this topic : it's easier to be happy with some
>> default settings if it's possible to tweak them ...
>>
>> Just for comparision : i haven't noticed any discussions on ayatana
>> about changing the default applications in the launcher. Why ?
>> Simply because it's possible to remove the unused icons
>> (ex.LibreOffice ) and add others. So there are no people irritated
>> by the default selection ; hence no vivid discussions ...
>>
>>
>> I am not sure why Unity was delivered in 11.04 without a minimal set
>> of config options regarding the "global menu". So I can only guess :
>> it is intentional_by_design. This is worrying if true ...
>>
>>
>> --
>> Adrian M
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 19:15, Niklas Rosenqvist
>> <niklas.s.rosenqvist@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > Hi Tony, thanks for your contribution! This was a very good example on
>> > why
>> > it should always be visible! You can find many more arguments for why we
>> > should always have the menu visible in the "Global menu in Oneiric
>> > Ocelot
>> > (11.10)" thread.
>> > 2011/5/31 Tony Pursell <ajp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> >>
>> >> Hi All
>> >>
>> >> Something happened to me just recently that makes me think it is not a
>> >> good thing to remove application menus from view.
>> >>
>> >> Currently, I only see application menus when I hover over the panel (or
>> >> hit F10).
>> >>
>> >> Recently, I was trying to enable the printer attached to my desktop PC
>> >> and in the Printing dialogue's Properties, for my printer, under
>> >> Policies, it told me 'Not published - see server settings'.  I had no
>> >> idea what 'server' it referred to and I had to resort to the user's
>> >> mailing list for help.
>> >>
>> >> There is, of course, a Server menu in the application menu, but with
>> >> the
>> >> application menu out of view, I had no idea it was there.
>> >>
>> >> So the point I'm making is, that without then application menu visible,
>> >> essential functionality may be hidden from the user. Any arrangement
>> >> that requires the user to take action to reveal the application menu
>> >> can
>> >> mean that a user, particularly the less experienced user, may lose out
>> >> on full enjoyment of the programs functions.
>> >>
>> >> Tony
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
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>> >
>>
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>



-- 
Adrian M