A Look Back At The Desktop & X.Org/Wayland/Mir Milestones Of Ubuntu

[rtfazeberdee]

You say "click one or twice or at most four times" - but that's not counting moving the mouse down to the start button, then up and through the menus. For me, that's *slow* - if I want to run (e.g) PuTTY to ssh onto a Linux server, it's just Start key, P, U, Enter. I can do that pretty much instantly, and my hands are still on the keyboard when the program opens, ready to start using it. A mouse is certainly superior for some tasks, but efficient desktop operation isn't one of them.

As such, I love Gnome 3, because it has better keyboard support than any other mainstream desktop... which is also why I think people are crazy when they describe it as a tablet-UI optimised for touch-screens.

I put my most used programs on the panel or desktop so its just one click, i used the keyboard for hunting down the programs i use rarely

[GreatEmerald]

Of course it has. It is developed with proper object oriented language (modern C++) and up until now by responsible people working under a single entity. You can bet that its design is way better, consistent and well thought than Wayland implementations hacked by of people from all over the places.

You know, this sounds like a description of Windows.

[GreatEmerald]

I was very clear and wrote about "Wayland implementations". Out of the 4 you mentioned only KWin is based on C++ and I think it targets the specific needs of KDE.

No; while KWin is built with Plasma 5 in mind, it's not just for its specific needs. LXQt, for instance, plans to use KWin as well, since there's no Openbox in Wayland.

[Delgarde]

He's talking about the fact the mouse can only issue one command per second (or so) at most. Using the keyboard, if you know your shortcuts, you can easily triple that. It's why there's no mouse support in Street Fighter or Tekken

Pretty much. Don't think of it as searching for a program to run - it may technically be a search, but functionally it's more like using hotkeys.

In contrast, I have no use for shortcuts on the desktop, because they're hidden underneath all the windows - I'd have to minimise a bunch of windows (or use a keyboard shortcut) to reveal the desktop first. Shortcuts on panels are a little better, but panels don't have room for many of them, and that's still slower than just hitting a few keys...

[Delgarde]

What can you do with a keyboard in Gnome 3 that you can't do in Plasma 5?

No idea... I've not used recent KDE versions enough to really compare, so it's possible they're just as good. But my point wasn't really to compare Gnome with others... it's simply that it's a very good keyboard-oriented desktop.

[bug77]

Pretty much. Don't think of it as searching for a program to run - it may technically be a search, but functionally it's more like using hotkeys.

In contrast, I have no use for shortcuts on the desktop, because they're hidden underneath all the windows - I'd have to minimise a bunch of windows (or use a keyboard shortcut) to reveal the desktop first. Shortcuts on panels are a little better, but panels don't have room for many of them, and that's still slower than just hitting a few keys...

Also, it's matter of what you do after you open the app. Because that's the really important stuff. Hitting Ctrl+I for italics Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V will always be faster than interrupting your typing reaching for the toolbar (or worse, going through the menus). The mouse is very useful, it's just not the answer to everything by itself. And neither is the keyboard that's why PCs to this day have both

[TheBlackCat]

No idea... I've not used recent KDE versions enough to really compare, so it's possible they're just as good. But my point wasn't really to compare Gnome with others... it's simply that it's a very good keyboard-oriented desktop.

What? You flat-out said "it has better keyboard support than any other mainstream desktop". How is that anything other than a comparison?