power-user's desktop is *tuned*, not just pre-set (was: Mac OS X v. Linux)

[Eric Dunbar]

On 6/24/05, Michael Shigorin <mike at osdn.org.ua> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 24, 2005 at 01:34:50PM -0400, Eric Dunbar wrote:
> > Eureka: I hereby propose that ALT-~ be reserved to cycle
> > through windows in a particular app in Linux. Let's do
> > something that Windows hasn't and that will make Linux more
> > usable!
> 
> *sigh*
> 
> While that could be an interesting idea, folks have long ago
> invented tabbed UI model (with shortcuts like Ctrl-Pg* to switch
> between them being kind of standard) and virtual desktops.

Unfortunately, no one has implemented a tabbed UI model under Linux
(GNOME/KDE) or Windows. ctrl-page up or ctrl-page down are poor
solutions because they require TWO hands for right handed people (who
make up 90% of users) or for any users who use a mouse right handedly.
Anything that requires a two-handed solutions isn't a good idea. Plus,
on many laptops ctrl-page up is quite an ordeal to activate.

alt-~ or ctrl-~ are much better solutions since they require only one
hand to activate whilst you can leave your hand on the mouse, and are
something that ought to be implemented at the system level
(GNOME/KDE/your favourite window manager)

> Maybe you'd spare quite a time by looking at them all and
> learning basic screen(1) for some console sessions.

Perhaps it might be time to enter the 21st century. screen "is soooo
1980s" (said with a valley-girl accent)! (and, yes, I did once upon a
time OVER TEN YEARS AGO use screen ;-)

> Still I suspect that learning proper *NIX-compatible editor
> (meaning vim or (x)emacs) a bit would spare *loads* of time,
> judging on admiration with built-in grep.

vim and xemacs require knowledge of arcane commands which cannot be
used in *any* other programs. It's kind of pointless to learn those
well unless there's a major need to use them over something else.