3 ms·

IMHO, a better taxonomy for WMs (and DEs) is "keyboard-centric" vs "mouse-centric" vs "trackpad-centric" (and "touchscreen-centric", but we don't talk about tho

IMHO, a better taxonomy for WMs (and DEs) is "keyboard-centric" vs "mouse-centric" vs "trackpad-centric" (and "touchscreen-centric", but we don't talk about those). Of course you can have all of them at once, but there will always be compromises.

whatever1 2y ago
When I touch the mouse I need to have access to UI that lets me manage my desktop with the pointer. When I am not using the mouse why clutter the screen with unnecessary UI? Same if the system detects that I am about to use my thumb to touch the screen. I think the UI should adapt to the user inputs instead of trying to dictate to the user how to work.
- zzo38computer 2y ago
  I also think that such UI will be unnecessary, unless it displays something that you might want to see even if you are not touching it. Most commands can be entered by keyboard, including many commands for window management; some can use the keyboard and mouse together (e.g. to manually change the position and/or size of a window). However, sometimes it may be helpful to display status indicators, e.g. if you have both tiled and floating windows, it can help to display an indicator for this. Also, an operating system design might involve capabilities, and the status of these capabilities (e.g. audio, network, automation, etc) might also be displayed as window indicators that the user can adjust (mute, redirect, etc).
aidenn0 2y ago
KDE will let you configure keyboard shortcuts for darn-near every WM thing you might want to do. Only a fraction have default shortcuts, but they are still pretty useful. Example: Hit Ctrl-F10, type part of the title of a window, use the arrow-keys to pick the one you want.
zzo38computer 2y ago
I think it would help to be designed to be usable by the keyboard alone but also to be usable by the combination of keyboard and mouse, and to work well either way, and you can do both together if you want to do (they are not different modes so you do not need to switch the mode). Microsoft Windows has some of that; you can push ALT+SPACE and use the menu for move and resize by the arrows, but you can also use the mouse to move/size windows. Microsoft is not the best way, but this specific example is one of the things that can be done. I also think that multiple document interface and tabbed windows could also be implemented in the window manager, that would not need to be the features of specific programs such as a web browser. (Some additional commands for application programs to interact with the window manager would be helpful; a window was created by another one, and is a part of the same program as this one, and some application commands are not specific to this window (but sometimes the user might want to start a separate instance for some windows anyways), etc.)

whatever1 2y ago

When I touch the mouse I need to have access to UI that lets me manage my desktop with the pointer. When I am not using the mouse why clutter the screen with unnecessary UI? Same if the system detects that I am about to use my thumb to touch the screen. I think the UI should adapt to the user inputs instead of trying to dictate to the user how to work.

zzo38computer 2y ago
I also think that such UI will be unnecessary, unless it displays something that you might want to see even if you are not touching it. Most commands can be entered by keyboard, including many commands for window management; some can use the keyboard and mouse together (e.g. to manually change the position and/or size of a window). However, sometimes it may be helpful to display status indicators, e.g. if you have both tiled and floating windows, it can help to display an indicator for this. Also, an operating system design might involve capabilities, and the status of these capabilities (e.g. audio, network, automation, etc) might also be displayed as window indicators that the user can adjust (mute, redirect, etc).

aidenn0 2y ago

KDE will let you configure keyboard shortcuts for darn-near every WM thing you might want to do. Only a fraction have default shortcuts, but they are still pretty useful. Example: Hit Ctrl-F10, type part of the title of a window, use the arrow-keys to pick the one you want.

zzo38computer 2y ago

I think it would help to be designed to be usable by the keyboard alone but also to be usable by the combination of keyboard and mouse, and to work well either way, and you can do both together if you want to do (they are not different modes so you do not need to switch the mode). Microsoft Windows has some of that; you can push ALT+SPACE and use the menu for move and resize by the arrows, but you can also use the mouse to move/size windows. Microsoft is not the best way, but this specific example is one of the things that can be done. I also think that multiple document interface and tabbed windows could also be implemented in the window manager, that would not need to be the features of specific programs such as a web browser. (Some additional commands for application programs to interact with the window manager would be helpful; a window was created by another one, and is a part of the same program as this one, and some application commands are not specific to this window (but sometimes the user might want to start a separate instance for some windows anyways), etc.)