A Dual Head Discussion!

[nitecon]

Hey folks,

I figured I'd post and find out all about what's in the works, what currently works and what everyone wants to have working. I currently run several machines all on Ubuntu, well I should say Kubuntu 8.10.

I'm a PHP programmer and I use to "in the old days" use each machine for a specific function... For instance machine 1 would be for testing my applications, machine 2 for actually programming and compiling and machine 3 for graphics work and miscellaneous. When I played games I would have 2 machines that I played on simultaneously and the third to look up quests or info on the game or just to browse email etc while I played. Then a few years later dual head came out... I'm talking lots of years ago folks like windows 98 redhat v3 times...

With Dual head I got accustomed to having 1 machine that has a set of dual head monitors, on one monitor I would program on the other I would test or troll Internet etc. And my laptop would be as an extra addition to my needs.

So now here is my request for what I would like to see. Since I have 2 fairly decent monitors... 2 MAG innovision 19" wide screen... THe first monitor to be bound to "Desktop 1" and the second to be bound to "Desktop 2" and the ability to roll my mouse between the desktops. That way it's almost like having 2 completely independent desktops, because unlike WinSuck you can actually have a toolbar on another desktop. Now the only problem might be if I wanted 4 desktops, and 2 monitors. Lets say I bind monitor 1 to Desktop 1 and monitor 2 to desktop 2, clikc on desktop 3 the primary monitor should be the only one switching over.

I have had almost no luck in this on either my nvidia, ati or intel machine... Although cloning works great it's kind of pointless in my opinion to have 2 monitors showing exactly the same thing, unless your second monitor is a projector that you are using to show a presentation to customers.

And now the final question... Has anyone had any luck with binding 2 monitors to 2 desktops and been able to roll over the furthest extend of the monitor to focus and activate monitor 2? Similar to Synergy...?

The only 2 things that have kept me still dual booting to windows is the dual head for programming where I absolutely need it, and watching nbc abc fox etc online. That and netflix. Although that discussion should be left for another thread.

[luceerose]

OK, I agree with your "bound to desktop 1&2" thing, but here's my take...

My existing setup;
I currently have the Desktop Cube set up, with 4 columns & 4 rows set as number of workspaces (total 16 desktops ). Obviously the Cube can only operate 1 row at a time.
This is where Expo comes in.
I have put a launcher on the panel linked to a expo.sh file which runs Expo, which means I don't have to use the Super+E shortcut key - I can just click the Expo icon that sits next to my workplace switcher. So I switch between rows ( or to an exact desktop ) with Expo, then use the cube from there to switch between the desktops on that row.

What would be really great;
If I could dedicate different monitors to each row.
I would even be willing to cut down to 2 rows for 2 monitors.
I could always up the number of columns & have two Desktop Octagons if I still wanted my 16 desktops.

[nitecon]

Thats a great idea larsenguitars. Maybe we'll see something where in the switch tool you can bind physical monitors to actual desktops so that they work as a pair. Click on Desktop 1 and it opens up 2 virtual desktops over a dual head display and so on. Although I don't think that will happen any time soon, but you never know

[n00rt]

i use a combination of maxivista and synergy to link two laptops together - as they are on the same network i can copy files over no problems use one mouse and keyboard and extend the desktop for the times i need it - only thing better for me would to have the two programmes totally integrated with the network so i could drag and drop files from one pc to the other

[loomsen]

[X] None of the above

I'd always prefer separate X-Screens.