unity-design team mailing list archive

[Frederik Nnaji <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx>]

errrmm ... whow, Dylan!

On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 23:59, Dylan McCall <dylanmccall@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I was really looking forward to client-side decorations, but Martin has
> pretty thoroughly changed my tune. I think there's a different problem
> that needs to be solved: there is a doomed effort right now to make
> window decorations feel like part of window clients even though the two
> know nothing of each other. For example, window decorations are fixed to
> the edges of the client area no matter what, as if they need to be. In
> some themes (like Lucid's Light themes) they apply some quirky tricks to
> blend with the client area.
>
> Perhaps more problems can be solved if window borders Stop Intruding on
> window clients.
>
> A few loosely related thoughts spring to mind:
>
>      * It would be really super if someone would implement unobtrusive
>        window manager controls that appear (with lots of alpha channel
>        goodness) when the mouse reaches particular hotspots at the edge
>        of the client area, maybe after being inside the client area.
>        That would lead to a valid solution to Bug #160311
>        (https://launchpad.net/bugs/160311), among other things, and
>        it's a requirement for client-side decorations to work at all
>        well.
>      * Why does a title bar have to be at the top of its respective
>        window? This causes a serious usability problem when a window is
>        Alt+Dragged above the screen: only the bottom part is visible,
>        so it's impossible to drag it back unless you know how it got
>        there. I actually am quite surprised this isn't a common issue.
>        Why can't the title bar detach from the window and stay visible
>        regardless of where the client has gone?
>      * A window “title bar”, with goodies like the Close and Minimize
>        buttons (and soon, I guess, Windicators!), serves a distinct
>        role: it helps the user organize a window client quickly and
>        easily. These are proxies; helpers; tools. I think “title bar”
>        is a misnomer.
>      * A window client, in the Linux desktop, cannot trust the window
>        manager to do anything. As a result, we have a unique
>        arrangement where window decorations rarely introduce new
>        functionality that can't be achieved through the client. (Beyond
>        managing windows themselves, of course. The client can't be
>        reliably dragged to move it around. Now THERE is something that
>        could be patched in all the toolkits. If we want touch support,
>        it's a necessity).
>      * Items in the window list mimic window title bars. (Title, icon -
>        that's how they typically look!). Windicators could fit in there
>        really neatly. We're moving to a world where the window manager
>        handles more of the surrounding desktop (eg: gnome-shell), so
>        these things could get cool.
>

you saved many people a lot of saliva here.
this is beautiful, much respect for your thoughts on an overlayed dynamic
titlebar !!!
in 2010 it's about time we think about these decorations thoroughly.

so much space just wasted, i think application designers will know
themselves where to place the name of their app, if they made it well and
are proud of it. we don't really need a title bar for that.

the window controls are also devoid of utility as you pointed out for the
ALT-drag case..
this is yet another exciting thread ;)

let's see what phantasies arise next..