While dodging the launcher by non-maximized windows might be considered
gimmicky (it's definitely cool but probably not that useful),
intellihide, as it's called in several Linux docks/launchers, is far
from a gimmick. It's a real productivity boon, a space saving and very
clever feature.
New users don't apply for anything that's not default. If
dodge/intellihide is confusing for new users, making it optional instead
of default is the the logical decision. "Difficult for new users -> has
to be removed", is not logical at all.
Even for newcomers, a slow animation showing the launcher hiding or
coming back would have explained very well what's going on. This is very
visible when dodging the launcher with a non-maximized window. Making it
visible when maximizing a window was the design team task, not removing
the feature altogether. (Power users could be given the option to change
the hiding/unhiding speed in CCSM.)
Other OSs not having this feature isn't a reason either. We choose
Ubuntu BECAUSE it provides features other OSs don't. The best reason for
not hiding the launcher is the same for not hiding the global menu: you
need to see them in order to aim BEFORE you get there. Since this has
been finally understood by the design team regarding global menus
(according to MS words on its post about the HUD), it should be obvious
that autohiding is not a good solution, while intellihide is.
It's understandable that keeping options makes the code harder to
maintain, but that can't be a serious reason either. Maybe the dodge
function is too complex? Intellihide is just a switch: show launcher if
no window is maximized. That isn't complex by any stretch of the
imagination and can't be hard to maintain. Ubuntu is full of much more
complex (and eventually buggy) pieces of code no one is thinking of
removing just because of that.
So I expect the design team reconsiders this decision, cleans up the
code to make this a simpler function (intellihide instead of dodge) or
simply keep the option as non-default ("always show" would be the
default). I thing that's a balanced response to the user testing. The
"just remove it" response is not only harsh and harming to many, it also
fails to follow a logical thinking path.
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930148
Title:
Dodge windows is down but what about making the launcher autohide only
on maximised apps ?
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