GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 341767
edge resistance should be overridable with a modifier key
Last modified: 2020-11-06 20:05:53 UTC
I think that the user should be able to disable edge resistance by holding down either Ctrl, Alt, or Shift while moving the window. It doesn't matter which key, but Ctrl makes the most sense given what it does when moving a window with the keyboard (which is the only override to ER, right now). Other information:
Another possible override would be to time out the edge resistance, so if the user wants to position a window a tiny bit past an edge, they can wait 1-1.5s (that would be my choice) and if they're still holding onto the window, the edge resistance will disappear and they are free to position the window. However, I think it is of utmost importance for the user to be able to disable the ER with a modifier, since this covers all situations where the ER intrudes with a simple solution (why a hotkey wasn't included from the start is beyond me).
But you haven't said WHY you want this feature. Describe a use case where this feature would be useful. If it is for pixel-precise positioning of windows, then maybe Alt+F7, ctrl+arrow key would work just as well since it moves the window in increments of one pixel?
It is useful whenever the user wants to position the window precisely in a certain way, like you said. One example of this is if I want to put a window slightly past the edge of the screen, to save space, or if I'm playing a game and it's running in a window at the same res as my screen, so I want to place it exactly in the middle of the screen, ignoring the borders. I could do it with the keyboard, like you say, but this is inadequate because it is very slow, and lacks the response of the mouse. Also, perhaps I'm not sure where I want to put the window, I'd just like the edge resistance to go away because it's triggering for edges that I'm not paying attention to, like if there are many edge triggers in a small area. Either way, I personally think that there should be a way to disable this with the mouse, intuitively, this is what I would expect if I hold control while moving a window around. I also think that when using a GUI, there usually should be a way to do something with just the keyboard, and also a way to do it with the mouse, to give people the freedom to use whichever device they prefer.
For that game reason: Pressing the 'toggle fullscreen mode' shortcut seems far easier. Perhaps even the edge resistance could allow this kind of positioning (window contents excactly as large as screen), without having to use any kind of modifier.
The latest version of metacity uses the shift key to implement some sort of aggressive snapping, while control and alt remain unused. Being able to do something with the keyboard is not an excuse to omit support for the same action using the mouse.
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