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Bug 646249 - Option to leave second monitor completely alone when activities is hit.
Option to leave second monitor completely alone when activities is hit.
Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX
Product: gnome-shell
Classification: Core
Component: general
2.91.x
Other Linux
: Normal enhancement
: ---
Assigned To: gnome-shell-maint
gnome-shell-maint
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2011-03-30 16:49 UTC by G. Michael Carter
Modified: 2013-05-30 14:51 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description G. Michael Carter 2011-03-30 16:49:31 UTC
Currently in 2.91.93-1.fc15 it treats the second monitor as a separate workspace.  Have to change the way I work as I was using workspaces to separate project but doable.  

But can we take this a step further and completely leave the second monitor alone.

The reason is mostly when playing movies.   I like to have a movie playing in the background while I work.   So I tend to throw it on top and move it to a corner.

The problem with the activities menu is that movie now get's moved into the "open applications" tile view.   So if I have 10 applications open that playing movie is now really really tiny.

With a single monitor it doesn't make sense to change anything but in a dual monitor, if the second monitor is left alone completely the movie can continue to play while selecting applications.
Comment 1 Jasper St. Pierre (not reading bugmail) 2011-03-30 17:16:43 UTC
This should be working in 2.91.93 -- can you try setting /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/workspaces_only_on_primary to 'true'?
Comment 2 Rui Matos 2011-03-30 17:35:21 UTC
(In reply to comment #1)
> This should be working in 2.91.93 -- can you try setting
> /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/workspaces_only_on_primary to 'true'?

I don't think that's what's being requested here. I think the requested behaviour is for a given display to be completely left out of the overview expose on top of being left out of workspace handling.

I think this could be implemented implicitly: if there's a fullscreen window (e.g. Totem's View > Fullscreen) in a non-primary output then don't use that output in the overview.
Comment 3 Rui Matos 2011-03-30 17:38:00 UTC
Maybe the designers can chime in? I don't think this being optional is a good idea though.
Comment 4 G. Michael Carter 2011-03-30 18:10:06 UTC
Rui's got what I mean.   The problem with full screen is the monitor becomes useless for other things.   If I was going to go full screen I'd just unplug the monitor and plug it into my iPhone.

The way it is now with workspaces_only_on_primary is a step up but still very disruptive if your monitoring something or watching a video.   Id rather have the second monitor left out of the overview.
Comment 5 drago01 2011-03-30 20:12:27 UTC
(In reply to comment #4)
> Rui's got what I mean.   The problem with full screen is the monitor becomes
> useless for other things.   If I was going to go full screen I'd just unplug
> the monitor and plug it into my iPhone.
> 
> The way it is now with workspaces_only_on_primary is a step up but still very
> disruptive if your monitoring something or watching a video.   Id rather have
> the second monitor left out of the overview.

The problem would be that window switching on the second monitor would be hard otherwise. The overview is the primary way of switching windows. Adding an option wouldn't be a good idea either because the user would have to switch back and forth between the two modes depending on what he/she wants to do. Instead we could just leave it alone when a full screen application is running on it (in the front) this would fix the "playing movie" or "running a presentation case" without adding extra options or breaking window switching.
Comment 6 G. Michael Carter 2011-03-30 20:21:37 UTC
Problem is window switching isn't the only thing the overview is used for. It's the only way to open applications.   

I actually never use the overview page for window switching... ALT-TAB works for me :)

If there was maybe another way to select/find applications it would be good.  Something like the ALT-TAB screen which can show over the primary desktop.
Comment 7 drago01 2011-04-02 10:09:12 UTC
(In reply to comment #6)
> Problem is window switching isn't the only thing the overview is used for. It's
> the only way to open applications.   
> 
> I actually never use the overview page for window switching... ALT-TAB works
> for me :)
> 
> If there was maybe another way to select/find applications it would be good. 
> Something like the ALT-TAB screen which can show over the primary desktop.

I fail to see how your comment is related to this bug.
Comment 8 Adam Williamson 2011-05-17 20:51:38 UTC
I think he was misunderstanding the earlier discussion, and thought people were suggesting 'just don't use the overview when you're in this fullscreen app situation' as a workaround.
Comment 9 Florian Müllner 2013-05-30 14:51:56 UTC
I don't think we want this - we currently treat state as a global property (e.g. you are in overview mode or you are not; you are in message tray mode or you are not; ...), which is a lot easier both for users to understand and in terms of code, than the proposed alternative of per-monitor modes (e.g. you can interact with windows on one monitor, but not the other).