Re: window-in-window MDI

[Paul Warren <pdw ferret lmh ox ac uk>]

On Sat, 18 Mar 2000, Tom Gilbert wrote:
> * Chris Jones (chris@black-sun.co.uk) wrote:
> > Hi
> > 
> > Tom Gilbert <gilbertt@btinternet.com> wrote:
> > > 
> > > btw. That means you have to support it forever, otherwise apps that 
> > > demand it will break. 
> > 
> > It would be easy to remove if you so desired because you could just point
> > it's entry in the MDI type enum to a different type.
> > 
> > I'm quite indifferent towards WiW MDI, but I do think choice is a good thing
> > and in the absence of any convinving arguments I say it should go in.
> 
> Dude. You think this is a good idea?
> 
> http://pluton.ijs.si/~jaka/mdi/mdi-wiw.png
> 
> Seriously?
> 
> See the way the wm has no control over those child windows?
> 
> See how they look, feel and behave differently for the user?

Indeed.  I repeat my earlier observation that these windows could have a
different focus model from the WM.

> See how it doesn't even follow *gtk* themes, let alone wm ones?

I appreciate Jaka's disclaimer that he is not an artist, but no-one is
going to be able to fix it so that the child windows follow the WM themes
- not with co-operation from the WM.

I'm afraid that until WiW can be done 'properly' with co-operation from
the WM then IMHO this is a dirty hack and doesn't really have a place in
the consistent and smooth feel that the rest of Gnome presents.  Even then
I'd query it.

Yes Linux/GNU/Free software/UNIX is about choice, but that does not mean
that projects can't say no to a bad feature.  If the supporters of WiW
want to maintain this as a patch to Gnome then that is the freedom
afforded them by the GPL, but I don't really think that this should be in
the main Gnome distributions.

yours,

Paul

PS. I don't mean to knock Jaka's work - it looks like he has done a decent
job with a very tricky problem.