Desktop Switchoff Annoyances
This is a collection of annoyances that the participants of the February 2010 Desktop Switchoff experienced. It is supposed to offer ideas for future improvements of either desktop environments. Every entry is signed by the person who experienced a specific annoyance to make it easier to work out a solution together.
KDE to GNOME Switchers
Compiz configuration
GNOME overrides my ccsm-based compiz configuration in lieu of its anorexic "Deskop Effects" setting dialog, which does not allow me to keep Wobbly Windows enabled. Will file bug on the last issue. Rrix 04:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
- Try installing compizconfig-backend-gconf and set it as the configuration backend in the main settings of ccsm. That should work. --Heffer 09:23, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Hotkeys
I stole this chart from below. Similar hardware (x200 tablet)
| Key | Function | Works in GNOME? | Works in KDE? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fn-F2 | Lock Screen | Yes | Yes |
| Fn-F3 | Display battery info | No | Haven't tested |
| Fn-F4 | Suspend to RAM | Yes | Yes |
| Fn-F5 | Rfkill | Haven't tested | Haven't tested |
| Fn-F7 | Cycle Monitor outputs | haven't tested | Haven't tested |
| Fn-F8 | Turn off Trackpoint | No | No |
| Fn-F9 | Undock | Haven't tested | Haven't tested |
| Fn-F12 | Suspend to disk | Not tested | Not tested |
| The following pretty much depend on the player used. I use amarok on GNOME, and well, it doesn't work :) should be expected I guess... | |||
| Fn-Up | Multimedia Stop | No | Configuration needed |
| Fn-Down | Multimedia Play/Pause | No | Configuration needed |
| Fn-Left | Multimedia Previous | No | Configuration needed |
| Fn-Right | Multimedia Next | No | Configuration needed |
| Volume Up | Volume Up | No | OOTB |
| Volume Down | Volume Down | No | OOTB |
| Mute | Mute | Broken | Broken (Only mutes, does not unmute; ACPI issue, see below) |
Notes:
- I don't have an ultrabay to test with, nor any sort of multimonitor setup. I know that http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_hotswap_Ultrabay_devices has some nice scripts though :)
- For the mute button issues, there is a multi-desktop fix with http://www.codefx.biz/2009/11/x200-mute-button
- amarok and kmix defualt to using meta+* keycodes for the default configs.
Rrix 03:54, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Tray UI headaches
As far as I can tell, GNOME applications lack any sort of useful notifications configuration, even tray statuses. It's nice to know how many unread messages I have just by looking at the tray, but gwibber and most GNOME applications simply lack this feature. Furthermore, Gwibber's UI pales in comparison to Choqok's. Also, the inability to hide tray icons is a big annoyance. Rrix 04:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Evolution unconfigurability
- how can i specify alternate ports in mail configuration?
- why does evolution-rss show under mail (in local folders?)
- Evolutions "Work offline" button is ridiculous[1]
Rrix 04:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Anorexic document viewer
The GNOME document viewer, evince, simply does not compare to Okular in terms of usability and features. The ability to take notes, highlight passages and keep track of those annotations is basically a required feature for me, as I use the readers a lot in class to read books, take notes, etc. A merger of evince and xournal would be pretty awesome. Rrix 06:27, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
GNOME to KDE Switchers
Multimonitor Support
Especially in conjunction with docking stations. When I dock my laptop I expect the internal monitor to turn off and have my TFT monitor, that is connected to the DisplayPort of my X200 Ultrabase, to take over. In GNOME this unfortunately doesn't work automatically. In KDE however, additionally to it not working automagically, when undocking my laptop (after using it with the internal monitor manually turned off) the internal monitor is not turned on again thus leaving me without any graphical output. I can then only zap the X server and login again. --Heffer 01:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Hotkeys
Hotkeys don't work as well as I'm used to in GNOME. Based on a Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (7455-D7G)
| Key | Function | Works in GNOME? | Works in KDE? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fn-F2 | Lock Screen | OOTB | No |
| Fn-F3 | Display battery info | OOTB | Yes, after manual setup |
| Fn-F4 | Suspend to RAM | OOTB | No (no further setup/testing yet) |
| Fn-F5 | Rfkill | OOTB | OOTB |
| Fn-F7 | Cycle Monitor outputs | OOTB | No (no further setup/testing yet) |
| Fn-F8 | Turn off Trackpoint | No | No |
| Fn-F9 | Undock | Not really | No |
| Fn-F12 | Suspend to disk | Not tested | Not tested |
| The following pretty much depend on the player used. I am comparing Rhythmbox to Amarok here. | |||
| Fn-Up | Multimedia Stop | OOTB | No |
| Fn-Down | Multimedia Play/Pause | OOTB | No |
| Fn-Left | Multimedia Previous | OOTB | No |
| Fn-Right | Multimedia Next | OOTB | No |
| Volume Up | Volume Up | OOTB | After manual setup |
| Volume Down | Volume Down | OOTB | After manual setup |
| Mute | Mute | No | Broken (Only mutes, does not unmute) |
--Heffer 01:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
- See above ;) Looks like we are having some configuration differences Rrix 05:42, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Localization
German localization in GNOME is much more complete than in KDE. There are many places that are untranslated (Assuming KDE 4.4). --Heffer 01:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
- Huh? The German localization is one of the most complete ones, almost 100%. Make sure you have kde-l10n-German installed, and if you use KDE 3 apps (i.e. anything using kdelibs3) also kde-i18n-German. If there are specific untranslated apps, please point them out so I can look at what's wrong (translations not packaged, not released by upstream or whatever) and possibly fix it. --Kkofler 01:31, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
Design
The design does have some glitches. I will try to provide screenshots of the actual annoyances soon. Also GTK Apps look ugly (which mostly isn't KDE's fault)
Untidy
KDE seems untidy, especially what the menu is concerned. I need a lot more clicks to start programs or adjust settings.
KDE Wallet
GNOME's Keyring unlocks automatically on login. KDE's Wallet does not and doesn't have an option for that. Also it keeps asking for the password from time to time if the timeout is not deactivated.
Formatting Drives
GNOME has an option built into the Desktop to format Drives. KDE has a partition manager in the repos which is quite uncomfortable to use.