Le lundi 20 avril 2009 à 16:10 -0700, Dylan McCall a écrit : > I do have a guess what could be done. Firstly, abolish applets as things > which must be run differently from other applications; the user should > not Ever see the word "applet" again. Enhance running applications and > how they connect with application launchers and their windows; one of > the things GNOME Shell seems to be doing. > > Maybe one way about this is to build on that part of the window manager > where it's up to The User whether he wants to minimize a window, shade > it or put it beside another on the right side of the screen. How about > window management hotspots, such as a panel and a sidebar, each with > unique properties for how they treat windows? The user places a window > in one of those and, depending on whether it supports some fancy > extensions, it becomes a docked window like any file in the panel or the > desktop (eg: a window icon that when clicked opens into a full window > again). Super awesomeness could extend that so the docked window gains > desklety / applety functionality when supported. > Basically, kill the distinction and leave it up to the user to say what > he wants a window to do rather than have them making unpredictable > guesses, and have the window - or whatever other object - do what it can > to meet the user's commands. While I agree your proposal would be a great enhancement for most applications that abuse of the notification area (e.g. music players), I don't think that could fully replace applets. Applets like timerapplet or sticky notes are different from standard applications in the sense that you don't work with them as a full task, but only keep them in the background to be easily accessible, while you actually use them for a very short period.
The point with them is that the ratio (time running)/(time use) is very low compared with e.g. a text processor. Thus, you need them not to take too much space on the screen, not even, as you suggested, stacked in a corner by the window manager. I'd argue that the best place to put them is on a separate layer à la dashboard (Apple), or directly on the desktop. This layer could be accessed with a button in the top panel, somewhere or in the overlay. Many "widgets" of this kind exist, see Screenlets, Superkaramba, or Google gadgets, or Plasmoids. A simple way of reintroducing applets in a "correct" way would be to support e.g. Screenlets in an overlay: replacements for Tomboy already exist in that framework, which is AFAIK compatible with other widget formats. At least, that's really how I consider we could get rid of the clutter on the main screen, which is distracting us with icons we don't need to be always visible. _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list desktop-devel-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
