unity-design team mailing list archive

["frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx" <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Zekopeko,

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 17:52, zekopeko <zekopeko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 7:40 PM, Frederik Nnaji
> <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On Mon, 2010-12-27 at 17:18 +0100, zekopeko wrote:
> >
> >> >
> >>
> >> I suggest you look at Divvy[1]. Looks like a really nice way of
> >> marrying a tilling manager to a non-tilling manager.
> >
> > thanks!
> > divvy is cool, we had that before in a months old Ayatana thread iirc,
> > and i think i liked it already for its inspirational power back then ;)
> >
> >> If it was up to me I would copy Aero Snap when dragging to the edge
> >
> > Aero Snap features are already outdated, when you get to check Compiz
> > Grid plugin in Natty, try it!
> >
> >> and would put a windicator for Divvy-clone on the right in the title
> bar. Pressing the
> >> button would produce a Divvy-widget allowing you to tile the window.
> >
> > Why clone if you can understand, abstract, learn, do it better?
> > What is the main functionality of divvy? Painless window resizing to a
> > grid.
> >
> > Now lets just enable a grid by default, snapping windows to it
> > automatically upon resize, move and perhaps also upon scale. To override
> > the snap-to-grid, just enable a modifier such as ALT or CTRL or SUPER,
> > which would actually make a good metaphor for "float", since "super" is
> > the latin word for over/above.
> >
> > Wouldn't that be sufficiently innovative and useful to justify *not*
> > cloning other stuff ("taillight syndrome")?
> >
> > There was another thread about the Window Picker (Compiz Scale) being
> > initiated if you click on a launcher, even when it has only one window.
> > Why not rotate three functions on the launchers:
> > * raise & focus
> > * spread exposé
> > * tile for dual-pane mode, as i mocked up above.
> >
> > if you're interested, i can scheme up how i imagine the "tile for
> > dual-pane mode" scenario in detail.. but i think the dual pane thing is
> > for the other thread (tiling and floating WM)
> >
> >
>
> Grid is really nice, very Aero-snappy. The problem is that resizing
> stuff via mouse is limited to half-screen-ing. You can't do a 1/3 or
> 2/3 via mouse.


yop, that's unfortunate.


> Then there is the problem of your snapping to grid
> during resize since the window border in the light-themes is pretty
> much non-existent. We will get a resize grip in the lower right via
> GTK3 but that still pretty much limits the side on which you can
> resize so you  have to move the window and then resize it then move it
> again to where you want it.
>

true, but we'll get more than a resize grip. there'll be an invisibly
extended window border, and i think there'll also be efforts to add more
than the gtk3 handle to the window border, where appropriate, so that you
can resize your window, grabbing it by any one of its borders.


> That's why I think that a Divvy-windicator approach would be better.
>

Of course Divvy's feature set makes it "better" than the feature set we are
currently exposed to.


> It's would be visual so you can now how much space you are giving the
> window easily and it's mouse accessible.


visual.. yeah, as in "visible". there are a lot of features that become
"visible" by the change of a flag from =FALSE to =TRUE in compiz, we don't
need to reimplement a third party proprietary system, which btw is a
copyright violation, in order to achieve accessible ways of resizing windows
in the linux desktop.


> I don't understand why the
> apprehension to copy stuff from other projects. It's what the software
> industry is built on. You copy it and improve upon it. That's simply
> progress.




> No need to suffer from a not invented here syndrome.
>

yop, i need to get looser on that, perhaps you're right here.
My thinking on "chasing tail lights" was inspired by mpt's text:
http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2008/08/01/free-software-usability
unfortunately, his blog is down at the moment..

I think there's nothing wrong with copying, as long as the shoes you are
copying fit your feet perfectly.
In any other case, i recommend learning from the example first, then
applying the knowledge creatively in an inspired fashion.. otherwise you
always risk contamination through the invisible design problems of the thing
you are copying.

The concept behind this is called Biodiversity¹, without it, we wouldn't
exist.


¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity