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arvevans
November 11th, 2010, 04:15 AM
With recent hype and focus on Cloud Computing, it seems that some as-yet unfinished development may be slowing. This has potential to cause problems for both Cloud and non-Cloud users, so some of the older efforts still need to be completed.

We have for some time had the ability to name workspaces. But that is only a start. What good does it do to name a workspace if all workspaces contain the same as all other workspaces? There are a number of people who have commented about the need for having different icons and different launchers in the top-bar that are relative to the name of each workspace. I for one would like to name one workspace "AVR" for AVR microprocessor development. The top bar would then contain launchers that are specific to AVR coding, AVR debugging, AVR simulation, and other tools that are related specifically to work with the AVR microcontroller. At the same time I would like to have another workspace named "PIC". This workspace would have tools and tool launchers that are specific to the PIC microprocessor.

Today I can name workspaces for specific efforts, but that means little if I cannot customize those individual workspaces for the tasks that relate directly to that, and only that, area of programming.

So, rather than shift all focus to Cloud Computing, or whatever the latest fad might be, how about finishing some of the unfinished development by cleaning up loose ends and making things work effectively for those who need it.

OK...done with the rant. I do realize that much of the development work is by volunteers, and that those people do not get paid for their efforts. Your effort is much appreciated, and you are doing a fine job...it's just that parts of it seem somehow incomplete. This reflects badly on the OS, and is a source of frustration for those who use it for serious work or serious play.
_._

arvevans
November 12th, 2010, 03:22 AM
Bump

Islington
November 12th, 2010, 03:48 AM
This is why activities in kde are so exciting, its working on exactly these frustrations. Specific programs, launchers, files, desktops can be linked to activities which should be theoretically pausable and respawnable. its some exciting stuff :)

Austin25
November 12th, 2010, 04:48 AM
Yeah, I agree that they need to get their priorities straight.

arvevans
November 14th, 2010, 10:03 PM
This problem & complaint about named workspaces not really being useful has been around for several years, with no apparent action toward fixing it. Maybe people are afraid that if they complain, the developers will just take away our ability to name workspaces, thus making the system more like "that other popular OS"? Several persons both on this forum, and on other discussion groups have commented about need for building the next evolutionary step so that named workspaces can have icons, files, and launchers that are relevant to the workspace name.

3Miro
November 14th, 2010, 10:12 PM
Have you tried KDE?

cariboo
November 15th, 2010, 02:21 AM
This problem & complaint about named workspaces not really being useful has been around for several years, with no apparent action toward fixing it. Maybe people are afraid that if they complain, the developers will just take away our ability to name workspaces, thus making the system more like "that other popular OS"? Several persons both on this forum, and on other discussion groups have commented about need for building the next evolutionary step so that named workspaces can have icons, files, and launchers that are relevant to the workspace name.

So what do you plan on doing about it?

toupeiro
November 15th, 2010, 02:24 AM
Personally, I really like the jolicloud approach. an HTML5 desktop that combines application synchronization and social networking. It still has some growing pains, but it's still very functional and conceptually sound when you want a common computing environment with cloud mobility so you are not tied to a single piece of hardware to get your computing environment.


Oh by the way, cloud isn't a fad. :P Most people just horribly misuse the terminology.

handy
November 15th, 2010, 04:16 AM
...
Oh by the way, cloud isn't a fad. :P Most people just horribly misuse the terminology.

I think it is well named technology. :P

arvevans
November 21st, 2010, 08:08 PM
In addition to Ubuntu Gnome not being able to customize named workspaces for specific work tasks, there is no built-in support for automatically launching specific applications in a specifically named workspace. Yes, I know about the work-around methods to do this, but those are marginally successful and not directly supported by Gnome workspace configuration tools.

Please don't get the wrong idea. I still prefer Linux, and more specifically Ubuntu Linux, over the other non-UNIX based operating systems. The system as it stands now is quite usable...but it could be so much better if a few small user interface needs were better addressed.

Yes, I am an EE with some limited programming knowledge and could eventually learn enough about the internals of Gnome to make the necessary changes myself. Maybe I will do that someday if others do not address the issue.

Next question is probably whether Unity will have capability to customize individually named workspaces to support specific activities, and whether it will support boot-time launching of specific applications in individually named workspaces?

arvevans
November 26th, 2010, 03:00 AM
To answer an earlier question...yes, I used to use KDE, but many of the applications seemed a bit awkward and less than professional. Just my opinion...please don't start a flame war over KDE versus Gnome. That is not the intent of this post.

Unfortunately it sounds like Gnome and KDE may both be replaced by Unity. Guess we have to wait to see how well done Unity might be.

czr114
November 26th, 2010, 03:18 AM
The GNOME project itself seems more than busy with overhauling the UI based on a new design paradigm than adding new killer features to GNOME 2.

This is a great idea for G2 I've been hoping for as well, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

arvevans
December 4th, 2010, 06:05 PM
Still thinking about how to handle "named Workspaces" in Gnome...

What would it provide if the name that was given a workspace were to be the name of an application, or script, that launched appropriate desktop environment for that particular workspace? For instance, it I name workspace-7 "firefox" could that launch firefox in that workspace, and if I name workspace-2 "AVR_work" could that launch a script that loaded up that particular workspace with all the tools for AVR microprocessor development.

First thing that seems desirable though is to eliminate the autonomous inclusion of all icons and all top-bar launchers from coming up the same in all workspaces. These spaces need to be configurable for particular applications, and not generic trash for each workspace.

Gnome has a way to go, especially now that it is competing with Unity for control of the Linux desktop.