Strong disagree here. I use a 38" Ultrawide and I have 10 workspaces open at the moment. All of them relate to an in-flight task.
If a workspace is a desktop multiple workspaces is a workshop.
A task should operate on one workspace and there should be keybindings to go directly to that task. Of course I am a pro power user and normies would be horrified at my workflow. Gnome devs try to consider everyone and sometimes miss the mark and make everyone unhappy. So I am going to volunteer to use their concept and provide feedback.
Alternatively, I would love a window manager that is just a maximized Firefox patched to display all native apps inside browser tabs. :)
But really, if done correctly every application could be tabbed, and the application would not have to do anything.
1) Always remember location and size hashed by monitor(s) arrangement.
2) Get rid of "Maximize" and go back to "Zoom" where I can switch between 2 positions/sizes: one is the smallest window that will fit and layout everything perfectly without scroll bars, and the other is point 1) remembered location/size.
3) Simple floating panels/palettes/icons. Nothing jarring. One menu bar:
* Application File Edit View Help Wed 3:59 PM ⏻
Software Update... Switch User
- Log Out...
File Browser -
Web Browser Restart
Text Edit Shut Down
Terminal> 1) The WM must remember where my windows were and put them back when reopened. Never mind how X apps took on this responsibility, under Wayland the app should not know its context. It's also not right to put the burden on every app when it could be in the WM to provide consistency and unburden all the other devs.
I want to explicitly put them where I want (on which virtual desktop) and have it always be the same on reboot. If I want to change the default location, I want to change it explicitly.
Reason is because then I can have single shortcut that always leads me to the right VD with right app. <Super> + 4 is always IDR, <Super> + 2 is always Firefox etc. and I don't want that to change because yesterday for work I did I needed a bit different layout temporarily.
> 2) I use a 55" screen where the "desktop" metaphor is apt. Workspaces are for small screens with maximized windows, which don't really need other layout methods anyway.
I'd probably just had it split it in tiles. I never want to move a window and I never need to have space in-between them.
I want to put apps that I interact with constantly near eachother and references I use close, and preferable just have easy keyboard/mouse way move/swap them around
My current setup is just 2 fullscreen apps on 2 monitors. I'd sometimes want third (or big one split into tiles), but that's about it. I sometimes split one in 2, say 2 pieces of documentation, or chat + something else but many apps benefit from full wide on 24 inch screen.
> 3) I have space for the launcher to be ever present.
I don't get the point of launcher ever showing up uninvinted
I don't see the need of launcher ever sharing same space with apps, it's not like they interact. It's for launching.
alt+f2, type what I need to run, enter, that's entire interaction required. I guess I wouldn't mind if some extra widgets could live there like rss/mail/weather, as there is plenty of space, but it is for launching, so it should be overlay
So, what is someone's idea of perfect desktop might be hell for someone's else. It's basically no size fits all.
> I also don't want my windows to shrink and move around when I do invoke that panel. That's so jarring and completely unneeded.
At this point I think GNOME guys are looking for reason they are still employed and change shit for no good reason.
Or you know, people are visual - it’s much easier to find that open document based on its outline than based on YourEditor - A… title and an icon that is shared by many windows.
As long as its easily disabled. I used to have to patch firefox so it would open where I opened it and not move itself to where it was closed.
Feel free to join https://matrix.to/#/#design:gnome.org
Tobias will be happy to discuss with you (and everybody else who has constructive insights)
1) The WM must remember where my windows were and put them back when reopened. Never mind how X apps took on this responsibility, under Wayland the app should not know its context. It's also not right to put the burden on every app when it could be in the WM to provide consistency and unburden all the other devs.
2) I use a 55" screen where the "desktop" metaphor is apt. Workspaces are for small screens with maximized windows, which don't really need other layout methods anyway.
3) I have space for the launcher to be ever present. I also don't want my windows to shrink and move around when I do invoke that panel. That's so jarring and completely unneeded.
I do like the idea they mention of a maximum sensible size for an app. That could be useful regardless of all the other stuff.
I feel like tabs on browsers were invented because no desktop environment or GUI toolkit ever came up with a decent solution for multiple instances/documents. This has improved but I suspect there is more that could be done.