Re: #101293, again

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

On Wed, Dec 10, 2003 at 10:04:12PM -0600, Gregory Merchan wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 10, 2003 at 09:35:10PM -0600, Federico Mena Quintero wrote:
> <snip>
> > 1. Remove dialog_has_cancel() from gtkdialog.c
> > 
> > 2. Bind Escape to the "close" signal.
> > 
> > 3. Make the default handler for "close" just close the window with the
> > existing code that synthesizes a GDK_DELETE event.  "close" is already a
> > G_SIGNAL_RUN_LAST signal, so recalcitrant windows which really don't
> > want to be closed with Escape can easily connect to the signal and stop
> > the emission.
> > 
> > May I do all of these?
> 
> No.
> 
> > Pretty please, with sugar on top?
> 
> No.

Damn! That felt good.

Ok, now, seriously.

This project (GNOME) is never going to get anywhere with every design
decision being rescinded in the next release. It's bad enough that
GNOME still proceeds largely without a clear design phase.  Worse is
the constant churn depending on who happens to be paying attention
at the time.

Right now, for example, there's a bunch of hubbub about window management.
The widely misunderstood idea of a viewport has even appeared again. The
GIMP is considering using incorrect window types because some users are
unhappy with the way Metacity treats the correct window type. There was
until recently a fracas over window management keybindings conflicting
with app keybindings. There are an absurd number of feature requests
for the poorly named Window List Applet. Ignoring all the whining,
there are still "not built to spec" bugs to be worked out in Metacity;
such as focus tracking.

In short, window management is a mess. There should be an explicit
moratorium on all feature changes until the "not built to spec" bugs
are worked out, and apps should follow the specs. Twice broken isn't
fixed. But, eh, good luck.

The same goes for this change. Don't do it. You've already got two
of the design people (Calum and me) saying no. None, not a one, of
the instant apply windows works the way it's supposed to, and you're
suggesting breaking it more. If you're itching to do something,
implement Undo for all of these windows, as they were supposed to
have it from day one.  Better still, talk to Seth or Bryan Clark
about the UI of the file chooser, and fix that.


Cheers,
Greg