Unity and workspaces. About Unity, not a Unity thread.

[gsmanners]

... since they are only of use for either/both of the following:
1) Grouping of multiple related windows.
2) Locating windows spatially - to find a particular window the user looks to where they left it, e.g. bottom left workspace.

Or 3) Hiding unrelated windows. <-- not the same as 1)

It's a subtle but important distinction.

[justynbutler]

Or 3) Hiding unrelated windows. <-- not the same as 1)

It's a subtle but important distinction.

I disagree, that is exactly what minimization is for. Otherwise my next question would be: what is the point of minimization?

[gsmanners]

I disagree, that is exactly what minimization is for. Otherwise my next question would be: what is the point of minimization?

Minimizing could also be termed iconifying or whatever. The point is that you want the window off the desktop, but you still want to keep an eye on what the application is doing or you want to be reminded that it exists or maybe some unknown reason that only the user knows.

This is thing I don't really understand. There are a vast number of desktop arrangements, and we can only guess what their purpose is. Why even bother trying to deconstruct every possible purpose?

[Copper Bezel]

Because that's what Ayatana is doing, and because Unity emphasizes the default experience, so anything that's in that default experience needs to have a purpose you could explain to a new user (or, better, that you wouldn't have to explain.)

I wish I'd done some searching on this and found that bug report before posting, but thanks for bringing it in, justynbutler. It looks like all the relevant issues have been brought up there, but we'll see if there's anything relevant to add to the mailing list item. I'm not convinced that adding yet another keystroke to the already quite complex Alt+Tab is necessary.

In the ideal, if workspaces are to be retained at all by default, I think I'd want to see a spatial window switching method worked in alongside the application switching methods - a use of Scale by default likely as another Launcher item and, though this would likely be absurdly complex to implement, a modification to the Workspace Switcher Expo screen that would spread the windows on each workspace, as in KDE. Instead of trying to jam one system into the other, just separate them completely.

[justynbutler]

Mark Shuttleworth has weighed in to the bug report at https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/863399, also mentioning this thread.

He has clarified that the intended behavior of the Unity launcher and switcher is for their actions to be restricted to the current workspace, but that this has not yet been implemented.

This clears up the issue posed in this thread.

[gsmanners]

Interesting.

Among many other changes we'd like to see in Workspaces:

* Alt-TAB should only switch between apps on the current Workspace
* Clicking on a Launcher icon for an app running elsewhere but not in
the current Workspace, which knows how to have multiple windows and
create new windows, should create a new window in the current Workspace

Nice. I like these ideas.

[Copper Bezel]

Well, I'm quite happy with this, obviously. = ) And a neat perk is that in the Workspace Switcher, selecting any workspace would reflect what apps presently have windows on it in the Launcher itself. Very cool; I look forward to seeing this implemented.

I particularly like the second feature mentioned by Shuttleworth. I find it very useful in DockBarX now.

[Bazon]

The workspaces issue is exactly the thing which makes unity unusable for me.

I'm a teacher, and so I'm used to have an ordering in context by workspaces:
workspace 1: private
workspace 2: school general
workspace 3: physics - middle class
workspace 4: physics - high class
workspace 5: mathematics - middle class
workspace 6: mathematics - high class

The things I need recurring or I'm working with momentary are always opened on the matching workspace.
And when I'm on that workspace, everything I need is just one click away in the taskbar.

With unity, that's impossible: That application entered approach is just wrong for me. For example, I always have many pdf documents open on all workspaces. Clicking on the evince icon in the launcher just destroys that order.
Also, selecting a pdf document by a smaller screenshot just as in scale/exposé is much harder than just selecting it by windowtitle in the taskbar.

So I also really wonder what the use of workspaces in Unity should be, for me, the workspace concept is just broken in unity.

Maybe the developers want workspaces just for a clean view with only one window not minimized? My old trick to achieve that - use the "show desktop" function and then only restore the window I need - doesn't work any more in 11.10: Clicking on the launcher restores ALL windows:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ty/+bug/878293


P.S.:
I'm on Xubuntu+Compiz and Lubuntu (on netbook) since 11.04, I only look at unity occasionally.

[Copper Bezel]

I take it you missed the link.

The Forums thread at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1862661 is
essentially correct - the relationship between Workspaces and the rest
of Unity is inconsistent. That's simply because we have not yet got to
implement Workspaces the way we'd like, and what's currently shipping is
the Compiz Workspaces plugin bolted alongside the rest of Unity.

Some pieces are already in place, for example, the Launcher
distinguishes between apps running on this workspace, and other workspaces.

Among many other changes we'd like to see in Workspaces:

* Alt-TAB should only switch between apps on the current Workspace
* Clicking on a Launcher icon for an app running elsewhere but not in
the current Workspace, which knows how to have multiple windows and
create new windows, should create a new window in the current Workspace

I've cc'd John Lea and Stewart Wilson who are the right folk to lead
further discussion.

Mark

For now, the workaround for folks like you and me is to use Gnome Shell. = D

[Bazon]

That's indeed good news, hope they get it soon!