[opensuse-kde] Who likes to use KDE activities?
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly. Malte -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:26:38 +0530, Malte Gell
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
i have been playing around with it and like the concept too, but find it too unwieldy [is that a word?] at present. once i can tell applications to start in a particular activity by default, and move them between activities using custom keyboard shortcuts, i'll try again. last time i checked (quite a while ago actually) that wasn't possible, neither via configuration files nor qdbus commands. it takes two mouseclicks to move an app from activity A to activity B via the context menu, which i find too much bother. i rather add another couple of virtual desktops and mentally assign each row they occupy in my pager to different 'activities,' like development, communication, etc. -- phani. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Friday, August 05, 2011 17:56:38 Malte Gell wrote:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
activities scare me there's a key chord you can hit that will change activities -- i don't know what it is, but i have on more than one occasion hit it by accident when i was going for alt-tab or ctrl-tab -- when in the wrong activity none of my desktops look right, none of my desktop icons are visible and all running applications are disappeared the first time this happened i was scared something profoundly bad had happened, with no clue exactly what had happened i run without a panel, no activity switcher widget, and the only way i've found so far to get back to reality is to unlock widgets on whatever desktop i'm on, add an activity switcher widget, and click on different activities til i find the real one -- this process takes time, and makes me mad and scared at the same time no fan of activities here, sc -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:19:59 +0530, sc
On Friday, August 05, 2011 17:56:38 Malte Gell wrote:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
activities scare me
there's a key chord you can hit that will change activities -- i don't know what it is, but i have on more than one occasion hit it by accident when i was going for alt-tab or ctrl-tab --
that key combination is <windows meta key><tab>. you should be able to hit it again, repeatedly if necessary, to go back to the activity you came from. i usually assign middle-mouse-click on the desktop to switch activities (in desktop settings). clicking with the middle button then shows all enabled activities to choose from.
when in the wrong activity none of my desktops look right, none of my desktop icons are visible and all running applications are disappeared
the first time this happened i was scared something profoundly bad had happened, with no clue exactly what had happened
i run without a panel, no activity switcher widget, and the only way i've found so far to get back to reality is to unlock widgets on whatever desktop i'm on, add an activity switcher widget, and click on different activities til i find the real one -- this process takes time, and makes me mad and scared at the same time
no fan of activities here,
sc -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
-- phani. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Saturday, August 06, 2011 09:30:55 AM phanisvara das wrote:
On Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:19:59 +0530, sc
wrote: On Friday, August 05, 2011 17:56:38 Malte Gell wrote:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
activities scare me
there's a key chord you can hit that will change activities -- i don't know what it is, but i have on more than one occasion hit it by accident when i was going for alt-tab or ctrl-tab --
that key combination is <windows meta key><tab>. you should be able to hit it again, repeatedly if necessary, to go back to the activity you came from. i usually assign middle-mouse-click on the desktop to switch activities (in desktop settings). clicking with the middle button then shows all enabled activities to choose from.
Sorry but can you tell me what is the "windows meta key". I am not familiar with windows keys and still use a normal non windows key board where and when ever I can. -- Linux User 183145 using LXDE and KDE4 on a Pentium IV , powered by openSUSE 11.4 (i586) Kernel: 3.0.0-7-desktop LXDE WM & KDE Development Platform: 4.7.00 (4.7.0) 12:05pm up 13:39, 3 users, load average: 0.80, 0.96, 1.25 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Friday, August 05, 2011 23:00:55 phanisvara das wrote:
there's a key chord you can hit that will change activities -- i don't know what it is, but i have on more than one occasion hit it by accident when i was going for alt-tab or ctrl-tab --
that key combination is <windows meta key><tab>. you should be able to hit it again, repeatedly if necessary, to go back to the activity you came from. i usually assign middle-mouse-click on the desktop to switch activities (in desktop settings). clicking with the middle button then shows all enabled activities to choose from.
woah -- that is good information phanisvara, thank you -- i should have guessed, the silly windows key is right between the alt and the ctrl -- who knew it was mapped to anything!?! (Constant, if you don't have one, it will never bite you -- be grateful) i just tried it (windows-tab) and got a seg fault and a completely black screen -- oh what fun -- i banged it a few more times, waited, and a green striped kde screen came up -- more bangs gave me an activity switcher widget i was able to use to get back to reality as many times as i've looked i've never seen that key-chord documented in the shortcuts setup, or any other settings dialog i don't like activities any more than before, but at least now i know what to avoid to keep them from confounding me phanisvara rulz! sc -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On 05/08/11 23:56, Malte Gell wrote:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
Malte
It's nice to have the option of the different desktop with an easy switch, but I suspect few of us are really implementing the fullness of it's features as intended by the devs. Perhaps that's more through lack of understanding than anything else. In a way, it's not so helpful when things keep changing (I don't mean I'm not for progress), but there is something to be said for the Status Quo. Familiarity with the desktop and it's functions means we can work quickly. I too use the Pager/Virtual desktops to switch workspaces. Activities is just a fun feature for me at the moment. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
Lørdag den 6. august 2011 00:56:38 skrev Malte Gell:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
If I could have different panels on different activities I think I'd use it a little bit. But for now I didn't achieve anything other than confusion and making plasma crashy, when experimenting with it. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:01:45 +0530, Martin Schlander
If I could have different panels on different activities I think I'd use it a little bit.
yes, that's another of my gripes with activities i forgot to mention. different widgets is fine, but different panels / activity would be much better. -- phani. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Friday, August 05, 2011, Martin Schlander wrote:
Lørdag den 6. august 2011 00:56:38 skrev Malte Gell:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
If I could have different panels on different activities I think I'd use it a little bit.
You have hit the nail on the head. The only plasmoids that I use are panels. (If I could find a plasmoid that I could configure to replace gkrellm I would use it, so far no luck) Activities started, in my view, as a way to have access to multiple sets of widgets. Something that I have no use for. It crashed alot and configurations were unstable. Finally w/ 4.6 and 4.7 they are actually useful and stable. I kind of like having 3 "groups" of 4 virtual desktops, I would never use 12 Virtual desktops without this kind of grouping. As activities become more independent I believe they will become more usefull to me. see ya dh -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
Hi, Am Samstag, 6. August 2011, 00:56:38 schrieb Malte Gell:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
I am using them on a daily basis. I like the feature having a different plasmoids for every task I am doing, but my favorite is to pause a complete activity. So I can get rid of a bunch of windows and just fire them up when I need them again. But there's room for improvements. For example, as mentioned, specific toolbars. Moving windows between different activities. best regards Marco -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
Am Samstag, 6. August 2011 schrieb Malte Gell:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
So far I've yet to find a good reason why I should even try, other than "It's cool man"... bye MH -- gpg key fingerprint: 5F64 4C92 9B77 DE37 D184 C5F9 B013 44E7 27BD 763C () ascii ribbon campaign against HTML e-mail /\ www.asciiribbon.org -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
Mathias Homann said the following on 08/06/2011 04:46 AM:
Am Samstag, 6. August 2011 schrieb Malte Gell:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
So far I've yet to find a good reason why I should even try, other than "It's cool man"...
I'm also looking for a good reason. I use multiple 'virtual desktops' in KDE. They act as the 'places' for different activities; reading mail, web browsing, editing. As far as the "necessary and sufficient" goes, they are. No need for 'KDE activities'. Oh, I see the note about different widgets, but I can't see how that is of value to me. Perhaps some tangible examples. and by that I mean something fully differentiated rather than just a move from virtual desktop to activities What can I do with activities that I can't with virtual desktops? And 'different sets of widgets' doesn't count. Sorry. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Saturday, August 06, 2011 08:46:20 AM Anton Aylward wrote: ...
I'm also looking for a good reason. I use multiple 'virtual desktops' in KDE. They act as the 'places' for different activities; reading mail, web browsing, editing.
As far as the "necessary and sufficient" goes, they are. No need for 'KDE activities'.
Oh, I see the note about different widgets, but I can't see how that is of value to me.
If you don't see use for widgets, then you don't need activities, just as someone using desktop in Windows fashion doesn't need virtual desktops. I know that those using Windows will have problem to find use for virtual desktops, they have workflow that doesn't need them. Is that more efficient workflow? It depends how many applications you need at once, how many windows you have to see next to each other. how much time you have to switch between tasks, and probably more factors. In general, more application windows opened will raise need for virtual desktops.
Perhaps some tangible examples. and by that I mean something fully differentiated rather than just a move from virtual desktop to activities What can I do with activities that I can't with virtual desktops?
And 'different sets of widgets' doesn't count. Sorry.
Well, it does. :-) That is the whole point behind widget based activity organization as opposed to application based workflow, and any combination of two. Activities and widgets usefulness will be discovered by new users that don't have strong usage habits and have flexibility to discover the way to use two layers of application visibility, where widgets create background, and windows foreground, and switch is as easy as with virtual desktops. There is of course many possible uses, by now I use some widgets. plus panel to keep them in one place, to start Kate session that I want without going trough intro screen with selection, start Konqueror session , Konsole session, have overview of network and computer activity. -- Regards, Rajko -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
Rajko M. said the following on 08/10/2011 04:34 PM:
Oh, I see the note about different widgets, but I can't see how that is of value to me.
If you don't see use for widgets, then you don't need activities, just as someone using desktop in Windows fashion doesn't need virtual desktops.
I use widgets - many of them. But you miss my point. I said DIFFERENT widgets. The widget I use are the ones that are of use to me. These are tools not toys. In a different activity I'd be using those same widgets. -- Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art. -- Tom Stoppard -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
On Sat, 2011-08-06 at 00:56 +0200, Malte Gell wrote:
Is there someone who likes the concept of KDE activities? I´m not sure yet, whether I really find it useful or not. I play with it and I find it a nice extension to the virtual desktop concept, but I still don´t know if I really will use it regularly.
Malte
The structure of gnome 2.32, I use the gnome GUI before I am forced to open applications. In the upper right corner, I have an appointment reminder, birth dates, etc on the calendar and a list of ToDo/Tasks. And, global time locations so that I can call friends and family around the world at the right time. Opening applications is a headache and clutter. --Will -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kde+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-kde+help@opensuse.org
participants (12)
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Anton Aylward
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Carl Fletcher
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Constant Brouerius van Nidek
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dh
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Malte Gell
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Marco Röben
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Martin Schlander
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Mathias Homann
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phanisvara das
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Rajko M.
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sc
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William Schifano