https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=523170
Bug ID: 523170
Summary: [All of KDE] Keyboard shortcuts are unstable (and
invisible), ruining the whole point of keyboard
shortcuts.
Classification: Plasma
Product: plasmashell
Version First 6.7.3
Reported In:
Platform: Gentoo Packages
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: normal
Priority: NOR
Component: general
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Target Milestone: 1.0
DESCRIPTION
Recently, my mouse started to not work sometimes, so I got to try out the
keyboard support, of KDE,
and I’m sorry to say, but it is somewhere between systematically ruined and
just broken.
This bug is about the fact, that I noticed, that the keys you have to press for
menu items, are unstable, and can wildly change between runs, depending on what
else is in there. E.g. in Kicker, the “session and energy” button* randomly has
the “S” or the “i” underlined.
And in Kate, I similarly had “the underlined letter” change for no reason.
This ruins the *entire* point of that functionality.
The whole point is that you can remember the keys, and reach a function quicker
than with the cumbersome and slow mouse pointer. Menus are just there to make
them discoverable for all the things you don’t use often. (Which is why KRunner
and classic command lines are such a fundamental misdesign: Not (easily)
discoverable.)
You can’t remember them when they are not stable!
I suspect, some place along the years, the new kids forgot that every menu item
is supposed to have a defined letter, and that in case of a conflict, the code
is broken and you can’t just automatically switch to another letter due to it
ruining the whole point.
And the code allowed it to happen.
So the goal of this bug is to get KDE, and maybe even Qt, in general, to
enforce explicitly set keys (shortcuts), and make it impossible to build
anything that lacks those. To get back to actually being able to work quickly
with computers, instead of sluggishly switching over to the mouse, sluggishly
moving a pointer to a freaking 4 pixel widget or whatever, and then having to
switch back, like we were raised with iPads because our parents printed out the
Internet.
Additionally, keys sometimes are only underlined when [Alt] is held, but only
work *without* [Alt] being held!
[* I don’t know what it’s called in English, nor how to launch kicker via
`LC_ALL=C plasmawindowed`]
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Run plasmashell (e.g. in German like here, using `LC_ALL=de_DE.UTF-8
plasmashell --replace`).
2. Press the [Super] key so kicker opens. (Usually the key with the logo of a
“product” of a certain convicted criminal organization depicted on it.)
3. Hold [Alt] to show the keys to press, because that fundamental feature was
broken too for Apple-like “function follows form and it’s more important to
look featureless than to have features” reasons.
4. See the letter “S” being underlined. Or “i”. Depending on which version and
what else is in this panel.
5. Press that key, while still holding [Alt]. Notice a menu open.
6. If you still hold [Alt], you see the letters for the different choices in
that menu underlined.
7. Press one of them e.g. [A] for “Abmelden” (logging off).
8. Nothing happens. Release [Alt].
9. The underlines go away, so you don’t know what to press anymore unless you
memorized it. So you press [Alt] again to see what to press, then release it
again, and only *THEN* can you …
10. Press the [A]. Or [b], as that was what I saw it be once before.
11. **Most importantly**: Try this procedure with different versions, different
settings for kicker (e.g. adding/removing buttons, etc), and different
applications installed.
This may be a bit harder to reproduce. Which is probably why nobody reported it
until today. To make it easier, you could change the (QML?) code of kicker to
make things have names that start with the same letters, to simulate above
variations.)
OBSERVED RESULT
A) The keys to press can wildly change.
B) The shortcuts sometimes require [Alt], and other times not.
C) The shortcuts are only visible when [Alt] is held, regardless of what (C)
is.
EXPECTED RESULT
A) The keys must be stable and set in stone, to reap the benefits that are
their whole point.
B) Either always require [Alt], or never, or at least make it discoverable what
rule there is for that. (I’m a programmer. If I can’t tell, how is my
non-techie girlfriend going to know?)
C) Make the shortcuts always visible, and optionally, offer a setting to hide
them by default, that is easy to find. (I looked far and wide for an option to
always enable them. There is none, and if there is, it is hidden well by
design.)
In total: It is nice to be inclusive and offer support for iDisabled people,
but it can not come at the expense of people who don’t just consume, but
actually use computers, as that is not inclusive.
So we need KDE to become usable with a keyboard again.
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Gentoo Linux 2.18
KDE Plasma Version: 6.7.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.28.0
Qt Version: 6.11.1
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please feel free to move this bug to whatever is the most appropriate location.
As plasmashell is just one example. Kate’s menus are just as broken, for
example.
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