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Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

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Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#11

Post by sqrt17 »

Legion wrote: post #9
sigzero wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't trouble at all...except people hate change.

It's almost ridiculous how much. If such a minute change like this generates such a negative reaction from someone, how is that person going to handle real, serious change? Especially when this minute change was such an arbitrary thing to begin with. Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. Adaptability is a trait to nurture, not protect yourself from.

If change were always a good thing, and temporary uncomfort good - do you mind if I borrow that office chair of yours and replace it with a different one? If you're still bored, there's this French-layout keyboard I could give you. And - no, don't use it with UK/US layout, that would be boring.

Unwarranted change - one that you push onto others without asking, and without really having a good reason - is usually a bad thing in terms of usability - especially when one of your Linux machines suddenly has the window buttons on one side whereas all the others have them on the other.

If it were a radical improvement in usability, I'd say go for it, but as it is, you're typically at the right side of a window when you don't want to have the mouse cursor inside it (or to be near the scroll bar, because the scroll wheel doesn't work when you're mousing over that flash movie), so you have to go a shorter way if the buttons are on the right.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#12

Post by andrewvc »

Legion wrote: post #9
sigzero wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't trouble at all...except people hate change.

It's almost ridiculous how much. If such a minute change like this generates such a negative reaction from someone, how is that person going to handle real, serious change? Especially when this minute change was such an arbitrary thing to begin with. Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. Adaptability is a trait to nurture, not protect yourself from.

Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good.

This isn't like moving to a new city to broaden your horizons. I didn't find changing the side the buttons were on expanded my consciousness and brought about a refreshing personal transformation.

No, the button change simply annoyed me because it was pointless, and ruined years of muscle memory (till I turned it off). Change for the sake of change can be good in some areas of life, but for the simple day to day stuff, if it isn't broken, don't fix it unless you're actually making it better.

Has anyone actually found the new buttons better? The closest I've heard anyone say is, "eh, I got used to em pretty quick". I'd hardly call that a ringing endorsement.

I found them actively bad, as they're right on top of all your menus, which could lead to mistaken menu clicks and vice versa.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#13

Post by EliRivers »

sqrt17 wrote: post #11
Legion wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost ridiculous how much. If such a minute change like this generates such a negative reaction from someone, how is that person going to handle real, serious change? Especially when this minute change was such an arbitrary thing to begin with. Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. Adaptability is a trait to nurture, not protect yourself from.

If change were always a good thing, and temporary uncomfort good - do you mind if I borrow that office chair of yours and replace it with a different one? If you're still bored, there's this French-layout keyboard I could give you. And - no, don't use it with UK/US layout, that would be boring. Unwarranted change - one that you push onto others without asking, and without really having a good reason - is usually a ba…

"If change were always a good thing, and temporary uncomfort good - do you mind if I borrow that office chair of yours and replace it with a different one? If you're still bored, there's this French-layout keyboard I could give you. And - no, don't use it with UK/US layout, that would be boring."

These are not good examples. I just use whichever chair is closest to where I want to sit when I want to sit, and I switch between dvorak and qwerty more than once a day without even noticing any more. Likewise, I anticipate, whichever side the close button is on. These are utterly inconsequential changes. I'd be willing to bet that the time I would save each day by having the close button more often nearer to where the mouse pointer is when I need to close a window is swallowed up in a single digressive conversation lasting less than a few minutes.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#15

Post by thmz »

Zak wrote: post #6

Anyone who belongs on HN can find this information with Google, probably as the first result on their first try.

Well I tried today, but it was a little harder than I expected. And this GUI method is also very usefull for most people.

But maybe the news value is that there are a lot of people searching for methods to place the buttons right again...

edit By the way, you will be missing the maximize button...

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#16

Post by thmz »

EliRivers wrote: post #8
Zak wrote: post #6

Anyone who belongs on HN can find this information with Google, probably as the first result on their first try.

I thought HN was a hangout for people wanting to start their own business. Edit: Yikes. I guess the truth hurts. :)

"Hacker News"

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#17

Post by EliRivers »

thmz wrote: post #16
EliRivers wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought HN was a hangout for people wanting to start their own business. Edit: Yikes. I guess the truth hurts. :)

"Hacker News"

I tried to eat an apple but chipped my tooth on the monitor. A descriptive name doesn't necessarily make it so.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#18

Post by Rust »

andrewvc wrote: post #12
Legion wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost ridiculous how much. If such a minute change like this generates such a negative reaction from someone, how is that person going to handle real, serious change? Especially when this minute change was such an arbitrary thing to begin with. Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. Adaptability is a trait to nurture, not protect yourself from.

Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. This isn't like moving to a new city to broaden your horizons. I didn't find changing the side the buttons were on expanded my consciousness and brought about a refreshing personal transformation. No, the button change simply annoyed me because it was pointless, and ruined years of muscle memory (till I turned it off). Change for the sake of change can be good in some area…

FWIW, I actually do find the buttons to be better positioned now. Ubuntu's default layout puts the power, email, date/time and network tray icons in the top-right corner of the screen, within a quarter-inch a maximized window's control buttons. I am constantly clicking the wrong button when I'm in a hurry, sometimes closing a window (requiring me to answer a dialog box before I can work in that window again) or minimizing it when I'm just trying to set my IM status, and sometimes opening the calendar when I want to close a window. Top-left is better for me since the worst I can accidentally do there is open the Applications menu for a second, and it disappears when you click outside it, unlike the calendar.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#19

Post by thmz »

EliRivers wrote: post #17
thmz wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hacker News"

I tried to eat an apple but chipped my tooth on the monitor. A descriptive name doesn't necessarily make it so.

Forrest Gump's uncle does something in fruit ;)

Maybe this site needs an 'about'.

Re: Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

#20

Post by Legion »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #10
Legion wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost ridiculous how much. If such a minute change like this generates such a negative reaction from someone, how is that person going to handle real, serious change? Especially when this minute change was such an arbitrary thing to begin with. Change is good. Temporary uncomfort is good. Adaptability is a trait to nurture, not protect yourself from.

Pointless change for the sake of change is what causes me to react negatively.

Except it was neither pointless nor simply for the sake of change.
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