csj wrote: > > On Saturday 29 December 2001 06:55, Erik Steffl wrote: > > > > i find the tabs rather confusing. but then again, my desktop is > > > > simply four xterms (10 desktops thereof), and i usually don't > > > need > more... > > > > > > I suppose you're talking about programs that require user > > > interaction (foreground processes). Aside from the hassle of > > > manually opening 10 different tabs, can you cite an instance where > > > having ten instant shell sessions is actually useful? > > > > he says 10 desktops, not tabs. > > That's the detail I decided to pass over. 10 desktops seems indecent. I > can't see what applications you would run in 10 desktops that can't be > done in 2 desktops and 10 (powershell/konsole) tabs. Personally I want > the CLI stuff to go with other CLI stuff and the X stuff with other > X stuff.
of course, it COULD be also done in one desktop. some people don't like tabs that much, e.g. me (for xterm -like programs, for some other programs they make perfect sense). I use about 3 - 4 desktops on my home machine and about 4 - 7 on my work machine (on average). Usually I keep related apps on one desktop, so that I can see relevant things at one time. When you use tabs you cannot see any two (or more) of those at one time. the other problem is that when you use tabs you cannot use window manger level menus and keyboard shortcuts to switch between them (i.e. if you have ten xterms you can switch between any of them using WM's methods, but if you have two xterms with 5 tabs each you cannot switch between any shell prompt using WM, you have two methods to switch between shell prompts that you have to combine). I don't really make much fuss about whether it's GUI or CLI program, I keep together programs that are related based on task that I use them to acomplish (e.g. I might have version control system GUI, few gvim windows and few xterms that I want to keep together because they are all related to one task... I don't see a reason to group unrelated xterms together... but that's just me with my particular task that I use computer for. you might use different methods to acomplish similar or entirely different tasks... what I'm trying to say is that his 'desktops' and your 'tabs' are not technical details but suggest quite different way of working with system... you don't see much value in his (or mine) destops just like he doesn't see much value in the tabs... (not to say that one way of working with system is better then another, it probably depends on personal preference and the kind of tasks you tend to use computer for). erik