Re: [Usability] Double-click [in notification area]?

[John Spray <jcs116 york ac uk>]

On Mon, 2004-08-30 at 23:32, Curtis Hovey wrote:
> Steel the middle button for select.  Let left button drag the select for
> the default option.  Use middle button drag for option actions.

There are many two button mice in circulation.  No critical
functionality can be bound to button 2.  The present situation suits the
deployed hardware ideally, since those using two-button mice are likely
to also be those without the background to expect the middle button's
functionality.

> I love the wheel, and I do not like random text being pasted into my
> documents.  I select more often then paste, and I prefer to paste by
> keyboard and context menu to be certain of my action.
Gnome serves unix power users as well as less experienced end users.  In
the present state, the end users are not harmed by that which they do
not know, and the power users are satisfied that their long-established
X clipboard remains.  To attack either group would be unwise, any
solution must avoid alienating either group.

I speak, as you can probably guess, as someone very much enamoured of
button-2 paste.  Select, click.  Much neater than select, ctrl+c, click
on target, ctrl+v.  A genuine time saver, particularly since I might not
even have my hand on the lower-left of the keyboard to begin with.

The problem of the the user accidentally triggering button-2 when it is
underneath the wheel lies squarely on the shoulders of those producing
the hardware.  It should not prevent or influence the use of the button.

> PS.  We create the official GNOME mouse with thumb button, and keyboard
> with system keys.  We sell the essential gear are store.gnome.org and
> subsidize a costly test to prove this is the right decision.
Actually, this would be damn cool ;-)  I'd certainly think about buying
gnome-branded/optimised input devices.  Doubt it's a practical idea
though.

John