Re: Our self-presentation, not just on our website. (Was: Re: GS based app release: djay by Algoriddim in Beta)

[Riccardo Mottola]

Hi,

here you mention specific issues which should be discussed as specific 
topics, I think.

Albert Palacios wrote:
> • When opening a GNUStep application with Ubuntu, the menu stays 
> behind Ubuntu's dock and below Gnome's top bar, leaving users with a 
> terrible first impression.

What theme are you using? default one? It is complex - you have both 
Ubuntu dock and Gnome bar... fire you GWorkspace and you cat another dock :)

With running gnome, the best would be to use the gtk theme, a little 
unmaintained I fear, but it makes sense to use its menu style.

Classic next-style menus have to start by definition top-left, because 
they follow Fitts law. Easy: just push your cursor top-left without 
care. With a trackball it is a joy!

Integrating with other things which rob out the borders needs to be 
taken in account.
I wonder if the windowmanager running under Ubuntu gives back the 
corners, we could think of an option (to be enabled in preferences or 
automatically with specific themes) to respect that. I don't think we 
can query something beyond the wm.. This is a point that should be 
tracked, best discussed with Fred, Wolfgang and other GUI experts.
E.g. if you run windowmaker, a window is placed beneath the clip.


> • Scroll bars, the debate is not whether they should default to the 
> right or left; they're not kinetic and don't automatically hide when 
> unused.

They shall not automatically hide! That's NeXT design - never hide 
something, deactivate it.
Mac had a similar guide line back in the days when it was usable, not 
just cool to look at. Elements should not hide when not needed, only be 
activated: least surprise for the user. You know something is there, 
just not active. When you turn off the light in your room, you don't 
remove the bulb, but just turn it dark and most importantly: the switch 
remains there, visible, on-off... it doesn't "hide" when you move your 
hand away.

We can hide them nowadays similar to "old" MacOS - hide them when not 
needed (content smaller than view) (autohide)

I guess we could add another option to enable "autohide" based on mouse 
position and make it available, it could help integrating in themes and 
other environments where this feature is used. These features can then 
set by a theme to provide a consistent experience.

Add a feature request for gui? Probably something called "overlay 
scrollers" since that is how Apple calls them [*].


Riccardo

[*] 
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsscrollview/1403536-autohidesscrollers?language=objc