The problem with this suggestion is, what if you wanted to lock the session *and* blank the screen? Would you have to choose "Lock" first, and then "Blank Screen Now" from the lock screen? That would be too much bother. Or would just choosing "Blank Screen Now" lock the session as well? Being next to a "Lock" item would make it seem like it didn't, even if it did. All that, plus the cognitive burden of an extra item in the menu.
The solution is much simpler: "Lock" should always blank the screen *and* lock the session. This is no burden: when the time comes to unlock, any keypress or touch of a pointing device will wake the screen. And this is why, when locking is disabled, the menu item is still there but says "Start Screensaver" instead. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SessionMenu#Contents> ** Changed in: indicator-session Status: Incomplete => Invalid ** Changed in: indicator-session (Ubuntu) Status: Incomplete => Invalid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of DX Packages, which is subscribed to indicator-session in Ubuntu. Matching subscriptions: dx-packages https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/590243 Title: Add "blank screen now" option Status in Ayatana Design: New Status in The Session Menu: Invalid Status in “gnome-power-manager” package in Ubuntu: Invalid Status in “indicator-session” package in Ubuntu: Invalid Bug description: Binary package hint: gnome-power-manager It would be great to have a "blank screen now" option to save power, wither in gnome-power-manager applet or indicator applet session ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10 Package: gnome-power-manager 2.30.0-0ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.34-5.14-generic 2.6.34 Uname: Linux 2.6.34-5-generic x86_64 Architecture: amd64 Date: Sun Jun 6 00:18:16 2010 GnomeSessionIdleInhibited: No GnomeSessionInhibitors: None GnomeSessionSuspendInhibited: No InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429) MachineType: Dell Inc. Latitude E6400 PccardctlIdent: Socket 0: no product info available PccardctlStatus: Socket 0: no card ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34-5-generic root=UUID=c65f05e4-8a87-4923-89ff-929c3811ba3c ro quiet splash ProcEnviron: LANGUAGE=en_US:en PATH=(custom, user) LANG=it_IT.utf8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: gnome-power-manager dmi.bios.date: 12/21/2009 dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.bios.version: A20 dmi.board.name: 0RX493 dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.chassis.type: 8 dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc. dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA20:bd12/21/2009:svnDellInc.:pnLatitudeE6400:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0RX493:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr: dmi.product.name: Latitude E6400 dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/590243/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dx-packages Post to : dx-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dx-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp