unity-design team mailing list archive

[zekopeko <zekopeko@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 6:46 PM, frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx
<frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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 Aero Snap features are already outdated, when you get to check Compiz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.

It's incorrect that implementing a Divvy clone would be a copyright
violation. For that to happen you would actually need to copy the
code. Functionality isn't covered by copyright AFAIK only the specific
product.

Either way it's a good way to expose window resizing and tiling
functionality to end users. Changing "flags" doesn't mean that we are
exposing the functionality in a user friendly way.

>
>>
>> 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

I fail to see why my suggested approach wouldn't work in Ubuntu. It's
not tied to functionality that exists on a Mac but not on Ubuntu.