When I first installed os2v4, I was appalled at TR at IBM for continuing support for a two button mouse. The millions that BG got from selling his worthless Microsoft Mouse he got by keeping the 3 button mouse off the market as long as he could. Some of the applications could have been greatly improved by three button editing. What TR at IBM should have done is to put a 3 button mouse in the box, which would have cost them about a buck, starting at least by v3 (warp). Is it impossible to learn from the mistakes of others? I found the linux exploitation of the middle button to be one of my happiest discoveries. In rh6 gnome, I find that the middle button will bring a window up *in front* from the panel. (Somebody asked why the left button didn't do this.) There is nothing wrong with the xwindows scroll bars, and the feature that could have and should have been preserved is the capability of down or up paging in a window without moving the mouse. That was great. At least the right button should reverse the direction of the scroll, which it does not do now. It seems absurd to me that when I click on an end button of a scroll bar with any combination of mouse buttons whatever, the same thing happens. (IMHO one should choose between a mouse and a trackball and not have the disadvantages of both.) In linux, the left button selects and the middle button copies and pastes. If a combo 1-2-3 or 1-3 deleted, it would be possible to do quicker one-handed editing. Of course, it would be too risky with a 2b mouse. Lose the 2b mouse. One-handed function is very good ergonomics. That is why most people prefer slower mouse menus over faster keyboard shortcuts which one would rationally, but wrongly, expect to be more efficient. I was unable to find a double click anywhere in KDE. They kill gnome with that. (I hate double clicking.) A 3 button mouse admits of 1, 2, 3, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, and 1-2-3 (?) combinations, and in addition there are all kinds of pens and trackballs out there. Of course all the configuring and installation should be done at a lower level, but at least FTSOAWHD let us have an end to double clicking. I respectfully request that anyone suggesting functionality for double clicking be boiled in oil forthwith, without trial or appeal. Another very bad idea is mouse combos with keyboard. This introduces a very unwelcome level of complexity to what could and should be a simple task. (Just in case there is any more room on your hard drive:)) Os2 has a sort of workbench folder that is like another desktop in a window so that you can put starters and urls and icons (anything that will go onto a desktop) in it, thus making it possible to keep handy access to lots of stuff from different directories without clutter. You also have a degree of session management with it if you want to, so programs restart when you open it. I think that gnome users would really like that. It would be nice if clicking with the middle button on a desktop icon brought up a notecard ready for writing so that I could make a note of what it was in a hurry without having to mess with a properties dialog or think of a new title. Os2 could attach notes to any file as a property but accessing them was never made easy enough so the capability never became useful. I thank you all for the great work that you do and for the privilege of lurking here. I hope that I have not conveyed a negative attitude by the ineptitude of my writing, and I hope that a user's perspective is condoned even if not welcomed.
