registry team mailing list archive

[kfsone <668415@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark;

I can envision a number of settings in which it would be desirable to
ensure the placement of the launcher etc: Hopefully hardware vendors
will choose Ubuntu/Unity over Android etc for various devices, and want
control over where the launch bar etc is for screen fitting etc, screen
management, etc.

However, I'm very concerned that you are citing design considerations as
a reason for fixing the location in general - especially with a view to
Natty/Desktop - but equally with a view to vendor attraction for
netbooks, because it /assumes/ physical device layout. You just lost any
vendor planning a Kindle format device.

In the desktop arena, I would implore you attempt to reconcile any such
design decisions with the root of Ubuntu's success, which is the quality
of desktop experience it delivers out of the box. "It's open source, fix
it yourself" is what I expect to hear from Gentoo, not Ubuntu. "Switch
to a different desktop experience" is something I expect to hear from a
Ubuntu derivative or a lesser Linux entirely.

I don't have a problem with accepting that the launcher be limited to
left, right or bottom edge of the screen. Just take the Ubuntu icon with
the launcher bar. Bar on the right, Ubuntu on the right. Bar at the
bottom, Ubuntu at the bottom with a choice of right-or-left edge. Will
it be a bigger button when they do that? Yes, but "OMG the start button
is huge" just isn't something I hear people say.

Imposing netbook aesthetics on desktop experience will deflate much of
the trust, enthusiasm even, that Ubuntu has stirred amongst folks with
whom you had begun to [re-]build faith that Linux could really be a
viable desktop alternative to Windows.

Let me close with some practical use cases:

1. RTL countries,
2. Portrait displays (where the vertical launch bar has the opposite of it's intended effect),
3. Left-handed mousers,
4. Accessibility conflicts with left-of-window controls in applications (esp web-browsing where navigation is frequently on the left-side, whereas the scroll bar serves as a buffer for them between pages with right-hand navigation and a right-handed launch bar).
5. Accessibility issues where the user's primary use of the computer is centered around the right hand side of the screen,
6. Multi-screen displays where the left-most display is the minor display, and having the launch bar on the left side of the primary screen is a bloody nuisance.

If I wanted design decisions that trump ease of use, I'd go back to
Windows XP, thanks :)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/668415

Title:
  Movement of Unity launcher