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A new wave of Linux applications

tuxphones.com

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Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#71

Post by bityard »

ugjka wrote: post #49
floren wrote: post #36

These applications look really pretty and all, but for my selfish purposes, I just really want real goddamn scrollbars back. I use a mouse that doesn't have a scroll wheel, but for the life of me I've been unable to figure out how to make applications like Firefox just give me a real scroll bar on the side of the window that's thick enough to grab without fiddly pixel-hunting.

Why do you use a mouse without a scrollwheel?

Genuinely curious what you do when you have to navigate a long document or page that doesn't have a clickable table of contents. If you're at the top and you need to get somewhere close to the bottom, do you just sit there and flick the scroll wheel for 5 minutes?

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#72

Post by kelnos »

floren wrote: post #62
ugjka wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you use a mouse without a scrollwheel?

I use the acme text editor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_(text_editor) for work every day. It makes heavy use of mouse chords, so I need 3 real buttons on the mouse, and it's hard to find a mouse with 3 real buttons and a scrollwheel which doesn't get in the way of the buttons. I've got a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball which works pretty well, but at the end of the day an old Logitech PS/2 mouse plugged into…

On the mice I've used recently, the scroll wheel itself was clickable as a middle button. Is that not sufficient for your purposes?

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#73

Post by hughrr »

fsflover wrote: post #63
quanticle wrote: post #58

Furthermore, the variety of projects that are enabling convergence on their applications is growing at a fast rate, with KDE, GNOME, Nitrux, Elementary and Jingling among others shifting their interest on mobile-ready and touch-friendly applications for the future of Linux. So, in other words, Linux desktop applications are going the same way as "desktop" applications on Windows and MacOS. I put "desktop" in sarcasm…

No, GNU/Linux phones can run desktop applications scaled down in such a way that they stay usable. See examples here: https://puri.sm/posts/converging-on-convergence-pureos-is-co... .

Yeh that worked out really well for the last two platforms who tried it…

Microsoft produced apps that no one used because they were horrible on all devices. Apple conceded defeat and we have different interfaces on each device class.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#74

Post by zozbot234 »

rland wrote: post #64
floren wrote: post #36

These applications look really pretty and all, but for my selfish purposes, I just really want real goddamn scrollbars back. I use a mouse that doesn't have a scroll wheel, but for the life of me I've been unable to figure out how to make applications like Firefox just give me a real scroll bar on the side of the window that's thick enough to grab without fiddly pixel-hunting.

I found a solution for Firfox on Ubuntu MATE: 1. go to about:config 2. find widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.size.override 3. Change to some pixel value (I have mine set at 26). voila! I do not understand why the default is so thin. Really bucks the trend of every UI element being touch-screen large nowadays!

Because if you have touchscreens you can use two-finger gestures, and if you're on a mouse you'll have no issue targeting a thin widget. It makes a lot of sense from that POV.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#75

Post by bityard »

floren wrote: post #62
ugjka wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you use a mouse without a scrollwheel?

I use the acme text editor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_(text_editor) for work every day. It makes heavy use of mouse chords, so I need 3 real buttons on the mouse, and it's hard to find a mouse with 3 real buttons and a scrollwheel which doesn't get in the way of the buttons. I've got a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball which works pretty well, but at the end of the day an old Logitech PS/2 mouse plugged into…

You might like the Logitech Anywhere MX. 5 real buttons and a scroll wheel that toggles between clicky and smooth. Only downside is that it's not bluetooth, it needs a tiny USB dongle.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#76

Post by fsflover »

hughrr wrote: post #73
fsflover wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, GNU/Linux phones can run desktop applications scaled down in such a way that they stay usable. See examples here: https://puri.sm/posts/converging-on-convergence-pureos-is-co... .

Yeh that worked out really well for the last two platforms who tried it… Microsoft produced apps that no one used because they were horrible on all devices. Apple conceded defeat and we have different interfaces on each device class.

They did not scale down desktop apps. They created completely incompatible mobile OSes.

https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque...

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#77

Post by rland »

zozbot234 wrote: post #74
rland wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found a solution for Firfox on Ubuntu MATE: 1. go to about:config 2. find widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.size.override 3. Change to some pixel value (I have mine set at 26). voila! I do not understand why the default is so thin. Really bucks the trend of every UI element being touch-screen large nowadays!

Because if you have touchscreens you can use two-finger gestures, and if you're on a mouse you'll have no issue targeting a thin widget. It makes a lot of sense from that POV.

It would -- but it's set so thin by default that I have trouble targeting it with my mouse!

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#78

Post by aidenn0 »

I have a pinephone.

KDE demos well, but it feels like bug whack-a-mole with each pmOS upgrade. The native browser seems to be missing kwallet integration, and Firefox alternates between working and not; in particular the on screen keyboard hardly ever works with it.

sxmo actually works as advertised, but it's not exactly a mainstream UX. I couldn't figure out how to get it to sleep automatically, so the first time you forget to sleep it your battery dies.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#79

Post by zozbot234 »

bitcharmer wrote: post #68
smoldesu wrote: post #12

History is back around to repeating itself. I'm an avid Linux user (and even a developer who uses GTK pretty regularly), but the recent developments surrounding GNOME, Flatpak and their related libraries has not made me optimistic for the future of Linux applications. GTK4 is really bad. It launched with horrible text rendering issues (still unfixed, 10+ months later), broke compatibility with a number of basic featu…

I've been a gnome user for well over a decade. What's common to hear from people like you who have a good level of understanding the ecosystem and the community is that Gnome developers consistently make shitty design decisions and refuse to take input from a wider audience. What is the reason for no group emerging, forking gnome and doing it the right way? I'd actually pay to support such efforts.

That's what XFCE is. (And MATE of course!) Now that they uniformly use Gtk3+, they could even try to achieve better touch readiness than even Gnome itself!

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#80

Post by yepthatsreality »

bitcharmer wrote: post #68
smoldesu wrote: post #12

History is back around to repeating itself. I'm an avid Linux user (and even a developer who uses GTK pretty regularly), but the recent developments surrounding GNOME, Flatpak and their related libraries has not made me optimistic for the future of Linux applications. GTK4 is really bad. It launched with horrible text rendering issues (still unfixed, 10+ months later), broke compatibility with a number of basic featu…

I've been a gnome user for well over a decade. What's common to hear from people like you who have a good level of understanding the ecosystem and the community is that Gnome developers consistently make shitty design decisions and refuse to take input from a wider audience. What is the reason for no group emerging, forking gnome and doing it the right way? I'd actually pay to support such efforts.

It’s not forked from Gnome but KDE tends to stay out of your way pretty easily and supports just as much as Gnome (with some Wayland caveats) if not more. In fact KDE community is very responsive and if you participate you will likely experience and benefit from the momentum they have.
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