3 ms·

This was a lifesaver during the early KDE4 years. Most projects it's wise to avoid .0 releases, but for KDE4 even up to .4 or so it was questionable. Thankfully

by o11c 2y ago

This was a lifesaver during the early KDE4 years. Most projects it's wise to avoid .0 releases, but for KDE4 even up to .4 or so it was questionable. Thankfully this catastrophe didn't repeat for KDE5. There are still KDE3 features I miss that neither KDE4 nor KDE5 has ever had. The one that sticks out in my mind is the ability to edit the start menu directly, rather than having to move to a weird parallel world. That does remind me though - why isn't "icons on the desktop" a thing by default anymore? I'll admit I stopped bothering to go edit the defaults for every new install, but why?

ffsm8 2y ago
Because very few people used these icons? How many program positions on your desktop can you reliably remember without having to search? Isn't it just about the same amount as you can fit in the menu bar you've got on KDE/unity/gnome? And if you've gotta search, isn't the launcher with fuzzy search quicker anyway?
- nine_k 2y ago
  Indeed. Menus are searchable, desktop contents rarely are (and if they are, the search results look like a menu anyway).
  - exe34 2y ago
    I didn't need to search for it, I had them in groups and used spatial memory. nowadays I've just given up on desktop environments entirely and just use xmonad and dmenu. I got fed up with people having their own ideas of how my computing experience should be.
- dgfitz 2y ago
  What about an end user, to whom say, you sell a tablet with software they asked you to write. It works like a champ. If they close it, odds are having a shortcut on the desktop they can just tap to re-open it would be most welcome. No?
  - ffsm8 2y ago
    In case you didn't notice, mouse and keyboard on a PC with a non touch display has a very different input scheme and consequently can't be compared like that. If something works well on such a platform doesn't man it's useful on the other
- badsectoracula 2y ago
  > How many program positions on your desktop can you reliably remember without having to search This is why being able to move the icons where you want is helpful: takes advantage of spatial memory :-). (though on Linux where i use Window Maker - and thus have no desktop icons - i just use task-specific workspaces and each workspace has its own icons/launchers on the clip for the stuff i use most often, which acts as a workspace-specific dock)
- pmontra 2y ago
  > Because very few people used these icons? I'm not sure about this explanation. Almost everybody has icons on the screen of their phones amd tablets, and multiple pages of them, and they seem to remember well were those icons are.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
drannex 2y ago
> why isn't "icons on the desktop" a thing by default anymore? Wide screens and HQ displays. More pixels, more space, less need for maximized windows as maximized windows look ridiculous on modern setups. Most people make the windows smaller, sometimes with other programs next to them, sometimes alone. Often you have them floating and you don't want icons ruining the view or being distractions, this way the desktop becomes a wallpaper or infinite backdrop of art to your windows to let you focus. It's very zen and peaceful to open a window in the expanse of space.
bmicraft 2y ago
> That does remind me though - why isn't "icons on the desktop" a thing by default anymore? I'll admit I stopped bothering to go edit the defaults for every new install, but why? They actually made "Folderview" (the mode where the desktop shows all files inside the ~/Desktop directory) default again for new installations in Plasma 5.10, released 7 years ago. https://blogs.kde.org/2017/03/01/plasma-510-folder-view-default-desktop-mode/ https://blogs.kde.org/2017/03/01/plasma-510-folder-view-defa...

by o11c 2y ago

ffsm8 2y ago

Because very few people used these icons? How many program positions on your desktop can you reliably remember without having to search? Isn't it just about the same amount as you can fit in the menu bar you've got on KDE/unity/gnome? And if you've gotta search, isn't the launcher with fuzzy search quicker anyway?

nine_k 2y ago
Indeed. Menus are searchable, desktop contents rarely are (and if they are, the search results look like a menu anyway).
- exe34 2y ago
  I didn't need to search for it, I had them in groups and used spatial memory. nowadays I've just given up on desktop environments entirely and just use xmonad and dmenu. I got fed up with people having their own ideas of how my computing experience should be.
dgfitz 2y ago
What about an end user, to whom say, you sell a tablet with software they asked you to write. It works like a champ. If they close it, odds are having a shortcut on the desktop they can just tap to re-open it would be most welcome. No?
- ffsm8 2y ago
  In case you didn't notice, mouse and keyboard on a PC with a non touch display has a very different input scheme and consequently can't be compared like that. If something works well on such a platform doesn't man it's useful on the other
badsectoracula 2y ago
> How many program positions on your desktop can you reliably remember without having to search This is why being able to move the icons where you want is helpful: takes advantage of spatial memory :-). (though on Linux where i use Window Maker - and thus have no desktop icons - i just use task-specific workspaces and each workspace has its own icons/launchers on the clip for the stuff i use most often, which acts as a workspace-specific dock)
pmontra 2y ago
> Because very few people used these icons? I'm not sure about this explanation. Almost everybody has icons on the screen of their phones amd tablets, and multiple pages of them, and they seem to remember well were those icons are.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

drannex 2y ago

> why isn't "icons on the desktop" a thing by default anymore? Wide screens and HQ displays. More pixels, more space, less need for maximized windows as maximized windows look ridiculous on modern setups. Most people make the windows smaller, sometimes with other programs next to them, sometimes alone. Often you have them floating and you don't want icons ruining the view or being distractions, this way the desktop becomes a wallpaper or infinite backdrop of art to your windows to let you focus. It's very zen and peaceful to open a window in the expanse of space.

bmicraft 2y ago

> That does remind me though - why isn't "icons on the desktop" a thing by default anymore? I'll admit I stopped bothering to go edit the defaults for every new install, but why? They actually made "Folderview" (the mode where the desktop shows all files inside the ~/Desktop directory) default again for new installations in Plasma 5.10, released 7 years ago. https://blogs.kde.org/2017/03/01/plasma-510-folder-view-default-desktop-mode/ https://blogs.kde.org/2017/03/01/plasma-510-folder-view-defa...