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View Full Version : Why make the HUD without some logical features? How can I help add them?



Isaacgallegos
May 23rd, 2012, 05:13 PM
1) The HUD should allow the users to add tools and options not found in any drop down menu.


I know the HUD only lets you access items in dropdown menus, giving the HUD a large blind-spot. Inkscape won't let you select tools using the HUD. I should be able to add them or my favorites, at least. There are lots of little options and checkboxes found on Libreoffice and Inkscape that I wish I could turn on and off with the HUD, quickly. There should be a way to add them. Right now there seems to be no plan to add such a feature and there should be.



2)Why isn't there a universal "close" command? I have to memorize which program needs "close", "quit", or "exit".

Yes, CTRL-Q is faster, but new users, which 12.04 focuses even further on, could have "close this program" as a HUD option for all programs, searchable by typing "cl" <enter>.

3)Unity 2d is so stable, but it has GUI quirks that hold it back.

You can test this in your Unity2d: a) The mouse interferes with the HUD, making Unity 2d unusable; trying to use unity 2d's hud will cause accidents if the mouse is in its way. b) New windows within a program have a high probability of appearing behind the program.

4) Application shortcuts and macros should be searchable. Right? After all, there are hundreds!

There can be hundreds of shortcuts for each application we use. I generally learn the ones I need the most, but I'd love it if we could search these in the hud.


Let me know your thoughts on these. How can I get these added? Are these really difficult features for the Ubuntu staff to add?

MG&TL
May 23rd, 2012, 05:22 PM
1) The menus already exist when HUD searches them. To have it pre-emptively search for everything would require it to create all of that temporarily, using a huge amount of RAM and rendering it unusable on many machines. How many things that are not menus do you think, say LibreOffice has?

2) That might be a good idea. If you hit Alt+Space, you get a window manager dropdown, allowing you to do X or Y with that window-they could include that in HUD. The reason they are all different names is that the developers called the menu item for quit a different name.

3) Unity2d is on its way out, apparently. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/uds-q-summary-bye-bye-unity-2d-hello-gnome-shell-spin/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+d0od+%28OMG%21+Ubuntu%21%29 ...so no worries there then. ;)

4) Shortcuts, possible but difficult; macros-don't think so. Maybe for the default ubuntu apps, but no more.

Isaacgallegos
May 23rd, 2012, 05:50 PM
3) Unity2d is on its way out, apparently. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/uds-q-summary-bye-bye-unity-2d-hello-gnome-shell-spin/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+d0od+%28OMG%21+Ubuntu%21%29 ...so no worries there then. ;)

This news killed me. I'm so sad right now. I don't even care about this thread now. They can do whatever they want with Ubuntu.

MG&TL
May 23rd, 2012, 06:12 PM
This news killed me. I'm so sad right now. I don't even care about this thread now. They can do whatever they want with Ubuntu.

Well, on the bright side, apparently unity3d should be speedier for those with less graphics hardware (myself included).

MadmanRB
May 23rd, 2012, 06:47 PM
I honestly dont see how HUD will ever replace traditional menus as canonical is planning, HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

MG&TL
May 23rd, 2012, 06:54 PM
I honestly dont see how HUD will ever replace traditional menus as canonical is planning, HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

...and what proportion of people who use ubuntu are power users? Therefore, there is a market.

Also, you really should add "in my opinion". ;)

mips
May 23rd, 2012, 06:54 PM
I honestly dont see how HUD will ever replace traditional menus as canonical is planning, HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

If you don't like it use something else.

thatguruguy
May 23rd, 2012, 07:02 PM
This news killed me. I'm so sad right now. I don't even care about this thread now. They can do whatever they want with Ubuntu.

FWIW, the idea is to make the 3D version of Unity available on hardware that is currently unsupported.

xedi
May 23rd, 2012, 07:33 PM
I honestly dont see how HUD will ever replace traditional menus as canonical is planning, HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

Exactly, looking in help files or browsing google for ages because you just can't find where option "x" is, is so so much more user friendly then hitting alt and typing in option "x" ;-)


On topic: I think the best place to propose the ideas is the ayatana mailing list but for some reason their launchpad site does not work for some reason at the moment :confused:
https://launchpad.net/~ayatana

Isaacgallegos
May 25th, 2012, 12:01 AM
Yeah, it's missing..

They wouldn't really listen to user ideas anyway...

cariboo
May 25th, 2012, 01:12 AM
Exactly, looking in help files or browsing google for ages because you just can't find where option "x" is, is so so much more user friendly then hitting alt and typing in option "x" ;-)


On topic: I think the best place to propose the ideas is the ayatana mailing list but for some reason their launchpad site does not work for some reason at the moment :confused:
https://launchpad.net/~ayatana

The page is missing, because it's now called unity-design:

https://launchpad.net/~unity-design

Linuxratty
May 25th, 2012, 02:13 AM
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

IMHO you are correct..I point,I click...
And yeah,on this machine I will be using something else and on the new Linux box,I'll be doing the same...Different strokes for different folks and all.

MadmanRB
May 25th, 2012, 02:34 AM
IMHO you are correct..I point,I click...
And yeah,on this machine I will be using something else and on the new Linux box,I'll be doing the same...Different strokes for different folks and all.

wel;l I think therte should be a nice middle ground for power and normal users.
I know I dont like to use the command line unless it is 100% needed

Linuxratty
May 25th, 2012, 03:28 AM
wel;l I think therte should be a nice middle ground for power and normal users.
I know I dont like to use the command line unless it is 100% needed

As do I. And I am disappointed that there is not a middle ground. People who prefer using the mouse are basically ignored in favor of keyboard users in the Unity interface. I don't like memorising keyboard short cuts and the less I have to type to get things done, the better I like it.
As a person who likes using the mouse to navigate and likes nestled menues I can browse through,this is my main gripe. If Unity had provided for me as a mouse user,I'd be happy as a bunny in clover...But who can say..Maybe in later versions of Unity,us point and clickers will come back in favor.

zombifier25
May 25th, 2012, 04:18 AM
This news killed me. I'm so sad right now. I don't even care about this thread now. They can do whatever they want with Ubuntu.

In 12.10, Unity 3D will use a new technology (forgot name) that will allow it to run on non-hardware accelerated systems. Unity 2D exists merely as a fallback to Unity 3D, so with the hardware problem gone, Unity 2D must be removed in order to cut down space and work.


I honestly dont see how HUD will ever replace traditional menus as canonical is planning, HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

This is why I laugh at critics who calls Unity a newbie's UI. It relies on the keyboard very heavily, so it's very useful for Linux geeks (like me)

cariboo
May 25th, 2012, 05:48 AM
Having to hit alt l then manually typing in the task you want to do is not my idea of "user friendly"
There is a device called a mouse people!

What's the keyboard connected to your computer for, if not for typing things? :)

HUD, isn't finished, consider it a technology preview, that was included in the LTS version, just to future proof it. Ubuntu doesn't add new features to LTS versions over it's life time, but with 12.04 being supported for 5 years, HUD may become so compelling, that not to including it would be a shame.

Peter09
May 25th, 2012, 08:14 AM
HUD is more or less for command gurus who spend all day in a terminal not for a user who just wants to get crap done.



These sort of statements always annoy me, they are actually ill considered and wrong. The mixing up of the command line and a search term has been used against Unity and the HUD for some time.

Best thing to do if you don't like the 'command lline' is to google 'linux'.... Oh no, you have to enter a 'command line' to use google as well.....

3rdalbum
May 25th, 2012, 11:40 AM
1) The HUD should allow the users to add tools and options not found in any drop down menu.


I know the HUD only lets you access items in dropdown menus, giving the HUD a large blind-spot. Inkscape won't let you select tools using the HUD. I should be able to add them or my favorites, at least. There are lots of little options and checkboxes found on Libreoffice and Inkscape that I wish I could turn on and off with the HUD, quickly. There should be a way to add them. Right now there seems to be no plan to add such a feature and there should be.

HUD will support toolbar commands too, in the future. Expect it for 12.10, if not 13.04.

Adding support for other options hidden in dialog boxes would require big changes on a program-by-program basis, but it's a great idea if only everyone could be persuaded to reprogram their apps :-)


2)Why isn't there a universal "close" command? I have to memorize which program needs "close", "quit", or "exit".

Exit and Quit should be the same thing; HUD already supports "fuzzy logic" so it just has to be taught that Exit and Quit are the same thing. Close is different - Close potentially only operates on a window, whereas Exit and Quit will operate on a whole program.


3)Unity 2d is so stable, but it has GUI quirks that hold it back.

As mentioned later in the thread, Unity 2D is on the way out.


4) Application shortcuts and macros should be searchable. Right? After all, there are hundreds!

There can be hundreds of shortcuts for each application we use. I generally learn the ones I need the most, but I'd love it if we could search these in the hud.

Another good idea. No idea how it would be implemented though.