I somehow failed to take note of an earlier discussion about this
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2017 23:58:40 -0600
From: Matthew D. Fuller <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Flippin' defaults
> ...
- SortIconManager. This also dates back to twm. Why the heck would
you ever want the icon manager list things out in the random order
it happened to see the windows? That's nutbar. Sorting a dozen
strings takes extra CPU, sure, but hey...
For some time recently I've been mystified at the way ctwm keeps changing
the ordering of items in the iconmanager corresponding to my Firefox
windows -- depending on which tab happens to be selected at the time,
though I did not at first notice that: the order just kept changing
randomly.
Previously my most recently created FF windows were always where I wanted
them, near the bottom, and the windows I always create first because I
always want them available (e.g. a FF window containig a mail account, and
stuff to do with my department) were always at the top.
I occasionally wanted to change the order and did so by moving windows out
of a workspace, and bringing them back in in the desired order, respected
by the iconmanager.
So, having failed to take in that 7th March discussion I have been
mystified for some time about what's going on with my (multiple) firefox
windows, each with several tabs.
Today I compared the new man file with an old one and understood that the
default had been changed to SortIconManager.
That made me look back at old messages in this list and I found the 7th
March proposal.
So I'll (respectfully) change the question:
Why the heck would you ever want the icon manager list things out in
the random order that depends on which tab you currently have
open in which window... That's nutbar. ...
I have now restored sanity on my machines by using NoSortIconManager !
My instinct is always not to reverse a default that has been set for many
years. It is very likely to cause problems for people who have not been
following discussions and suddenly find that things change in mysterious
ways. Certainly give people the option to deselect the default in .ctwmrc,
but in this case the option was always there.
Users who don't like the old default will presumably already have worked
out (long ago?) that they can use SortIconManager.
I apologize for not noticing this proposal and commenting earlier -- I was
very busy in March. Serves me right, as it has taken me some time to work
out why my iconmanager had gone crazy.
If I am the only one who thinks the original default was the sane one,
ignore me.
Aaron
