unity-design team mailing list archive

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Matthew Paul Thomas wrote on 20/10/11 16:34:
> ...
> 
> For some people, it is useful to open particular applications or 
> documents every time they log in.
> 
> ...
> 
> I'd appreciate your feedback on the design. 
> <https://live.gnome.org/Design/SystemSettings/LoginItems>
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone for your feedback. I've made some changes based on
your suggestions.
<https://live.gnome.org/action/info/Design/SystemSettings/LoginItems?action=diff&rev2=18&rev1=17>

tommy wrote on 20/10/11 16:41:
> ...
> 
> It would be nice if this panel could have option to start the 
> application minimized - for example Empathy, Skype or Pidgin.


That would be awkward to implement (for example, what if you choose to
have one bookmark minimized and another not, and the browser opens
them as tabs in the same window?), but I've added it as a possible
future enhancement.

> And a feature, which I think some users will find useful - startup 
> applications added by system administrator (that cannot be deleted
> by ordinary user) - for example some scripts that will log
> something, or download something to the desktop.


Good idea, I've added that as a future enhancement too.

Jeremy Bicha wrote on 20/10/11 17:48:
> ...
> 
> GNOME has really overloaded the "Shell" term. I'd suggest renaming 
> "Add Shell Command" to something like "Add Custom Command".


Good point. Changed.

> In your mockup of the "Add Shell Command" dialog, you show a file
> folder; I think that's a bad idea as the file-browser isn't really
> a good way to look for shell commands.


Why not? You don't have to use it, but it's a place to start if you've
forgotten the name of a command (e.g. "epiphany-browser").

> If it's not too difficult to add, bash auto-completion would be
> cool though.


Good idea. Added.

> ...
> 
> A drop-down box for the + button is new to GNOME, isn't it?


Yes, Didier Roche had far more difficulty than he should have in
implementing the same thing for OneConf. It needs fixing in GTK.

> As a side point, I think if  "Name & Photo" & "Security" are 2 
> separate subpanels, then those subpanels would be mostly empty.
> 
> ...


Not if the "Photo" panel actually let you take a photo, like the
installer does.


Evan Huus wrote on 20/10/11 17:50:
> ...
> 
> One thing that I would like it to support is mounting partitions.
> I have my music on a separate internal NTFS partition so that it
> can be accessed by Windows. At the moment, the first thing I have
> to do when I log in is browse to that folder in Nautilus so that it
> gets mounted (by gvfs?). The only way currently to have a partition
> auto-mount on login is via /etc/fstab, which affects all users and
> requires root access.
> 
> An "Add Partition..." option below the "Add Shell Command..."
> option would be absolutely fantastic. (Obviously the label and
> location are subject to change).
> 
> ...


I don't quite understand the problem here. Why do you need to mount
the partition when you log in?


Omar B. wrote on 20/10/11 19:37:
> 
> I like where things are going here, but wouldn't it be better to
> have a "remember session(s)" option (currently xfce, kde, etc. have
> it),


Remembering what was open when you logged out is an orthogonal
problem: you might want to do that instead, or as well. The Gnome
developers seem incapable of implementing it, but there was a session
at UDS about making the previous partly-working implementation
available once more.
<https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/desktop-p-gnome-session>

> also kde has "Activities" which is really great feature, is like 
> having multiple user sessions with its own preferences, but very
> easy to manage, add , delete, stop ,etc.


Can you give some examples of use cases for that?

Sense Egbert Hofstede wrote on 22/10/11 13:53:
> ...
> 
> I like your ideas and putting it under account management seems a
> good move to me. However, maybe adding three different things --
> files, commands and applications -- to one list, could be
> confusing. Though one list certainly is a more elegant solution
> that separate lists.
> 
> Another suggestion I have is to allow people to choose to start 
> 'default chat client' at login, rather than specifically Empathy.
> This would be consistent with the approach chosen for the messages 
> indicator and it would prevent requiring people to learn the names
> of all applications. It would add another type of thing to the
> three in the list already, though.
> 
> ...


As far as I know, there isn't actually such a thing as the "default
chat client" (not to be confused with "the chat client shipped on the
CD"). The messaging menu just pretends there is. And as long as it's
practical to uninstall Empathy and install some other IM client, I
think it's counterproductive to hide Empathy's identity. And as you
say, it would be adding another kind of thing to the list.

Thibaut Brandscheid wrote on 25/10/11 18:09:
> ...
> 
> I tried to combine all three topics into one interface → Mock-up 
> <http://image-upload.de/image/tk0GyW/dad7cb0f55.png>
> 
> ...


That looks a bit confusing. If a menu was in that position, I would
expect it to filter the contents of the list immediately below. But
your menu instead alters the behavior of the "+" button below the list.

(Bonus tip: Checkboxes go to the left of their labels.)


Evan Huus wrote on 24/10/11 22:49:
> ...
> 
> Something else just occurred to me that can maybe be put in the
> 'nice to have' bucket for future consideration: delayed opening.
> For non-critical applications like Gwibber, it would be nice if
> they could be set to load 10ish seconds after the rest of the
> desktop, just to make the core system feel that much snappier.
> 
> ...


Nifty. Added.

Christian Giordano wrote on 19/11/11 09:16:
> 
> Hi Matthew, in your design, is the checkbox close to the
> application useful for having the application minimized (as Apple
> do)?


I don't understand how you came to that conclusion. Maybe the design
is unclear. Do you remember what made you think that?

> Said that, I have to agree with the comment from AllanDay, I am
> not sure why you would want a file selector considering that some 
> applications (including browsers) already keep memory of the
> opened files before they quit.
> 
> ...


First, because most don't; browsers are a pleasant exception. And
second, because (as I replied to Omar above) reopening the things you
had open last time is orthogonal to opening a set of things at each login.

They are *similar* features, and if I had to choose just one, I'd
choose restoring the session. But I don't get to choose, and we could
reasonably have both eventually.

- -- 
mpt
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