But Alt-F1 triggers keyboard navigation of the launcher, not the dash. You can switch directlyfrom there to either dash or the Run dialog without any other action. To open the dash, briefly press and release Super, which is a very different shortcut from Alt-F2, and not likely to be confused. It is true they look identical and serve very different functions, but be cause they are each accessed so differently, it's unlikely that a user would open one when they meant to open the other.
And one might use "killall Thunderbird" to terminate Thunderbird if it freezes. It was a rhetorical example, but the point is that sometimes it is useful to run a command without opening a terminal, particularly if you would then immediately close the terminal. If I want to actually run a command in a terminal, then I place a terminal shortcut in launcher position #7 (for example) and the can subsequently press Super-7 to open the terminal, at which point I can run my command. This is equally as fast as the Windows examples, and doesn't rely on exposing the command prompt to new users (which is a good thing). For one-offs, I can still use Alt-F2.
On Sep 27, 2011 3:58 PM, "Stefanos A." <
stapostol@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 2011/9/27 Ian Santopietro <
isantop@xxxxxxxxx>
>
>> Adding a 5th stop just makes it harder to get to it. The point of having
>> the separate dashes, as I see it, is to provide very quick access to both
>> pieces of very important functionality.
>>
>
> Alt-F2 will still be available. I suggested the *addition* of a way to move
> between Alt-F1 and Alt-F2 modes, not the removal of Alt-F2. See my previous
> post for the rationale.
>
>
>> There isn't really a reason to switch from one to the other, since they
>> behave differently (i.e. you wouldn't use Alt+F2 to open firefox, and you
>> wouldn't use Dash to run "killall thunderbird").
>>
>
> They behave differently but they look identical - the current watertight
> division is completely artificial. Try explaining the difference between
> Alt-F1 and Alt-F2 to a new user in a single sentence (no, really, try!)
>
> Besides, why wouldn't I use the Dash to "killall thunderbird"? What if I
> press Alt-F1 instead of Alt-F2 by mistake? Should I close the Dash, reopen
> it in Alt-F2 mode and retype the whole command? That's not very
> user-friendly (and, yes, this happens to me from time to time). Gnome Do
> used to support this seamlessly and effortlessly, by offering an "execute
> command in terminal" option along with "launch application" and "search
> files". There is very little reason why the Dash supports the latter two in
> the same way but compartmentalizes the first into a separate place.