Work Space Switcher - feature, howto ??

[Patrick O'Callaghan]

On Fri, 2008-04-11 at 14:48 -0400, William Case wrote:
> Hi Patrick;
> 
> I am now using this exchange to get some thoughts on paper (written up)
> in order to be clear when I ask for it as a feature or when I try to
> create it myself.  So please indulge me.  If you or anyone else on the
> list have suggestions to add, I would appreciate it.
> 
> On Fri, 2008-04-11 at 12:42 -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> [snip]
> > > > > Also, if possible, I would like to attach my launcher icons on
> > > > > my desktop (not on the panels) to a specific workspace so that when
> > > > > switch work spaces a new set of launchers appropriate to that work space
> > > > > are shown.
> > > > 
> > > > KDE 3 doesn't seem to do this OOB. KDE 4 might.
> > > > 
> > > > poc
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > Right now I am logging in to two different users for one person (myself)
> > > depending on what kind of work I am doing.  It would be neater and
> > > faster if I could setup work spaces that reflected the major task I am
> > > working on or playing in.
> > 
> > I use 6 workspaces, rather arbitrarily called Basic, Web, Incoming,
> > Office, Mail and Misc. I tend to do one kind of thing on one workspace,
> > but I have a fixed set of icons in the KDE panel (Evolution, Firefox,
> > Pidgin, etc.) because I don't usually need to execute them more than
> > once and just keep them running. I used to have different wallpapers as
> > well but couldn't be bothered after a while. One finds that eye-candy
> > gets old fairly quickly, which is why I stay away from Compiz. KDE can
> > automagically start up each application on the appropriate desktop when
> > you log in. You just set it up once and select Save Session from the KDE
> > menu (no doubt Gnome can also do all of this; I don't want to start a
> > religious war). 
> > 
> 
> I agree no religious wars.  I am currently doing much the same as you
> with my workspaces & sessions.  However, I would like to use workspaces
> for more.
> 
> Here are the problems I am trying to solve:
> 
> 1) As it now is, my desktop is covered with application launchers,
> picture files, document links etc.  Lets call this my default desktop.
> I don't mind the mess.  I clean it up at random moments; it is usually
> the result of exploring my machine, or exploring the Internet,
> downloading, things I intend to get back to or small tasks I have
> completed.
> 
> 2) However, when it comes to a major new project or task, I like to work
> neat.  As well, I intensely use different applications and files from
> the ones that I might use in default mode.  To be productive it is
> easier if I put things (files and launchers) in a particular spot where
> I know where they are and not mixed up with files and launchers I may
> want as default only.
> 
> 3) I have tried using a secondary user to achieve the desired desktop
> setup and switching back and forth with the 'user switcher'.  However
> this has major drawbacks.  Some programs like Evolution (applies to
> Thunderbird as well) are tied to one user.  I have tried to get
> Evolution for the second user to use the default mbox but no successful
> go.  It also means my Internet Browser ends up with two separate
> bookmark files.  Because I want to work with a clean desktop does not
> mean that I never want access to my work from the default desktop.
> 
> 4) Logging in as a secondary user also means that for one reason or
> another I am always screwing around with permissions, even after I have
> created a special 'Bill' group.
> 
> 5) As for the desktop wallpaper, I too view it as mainly 'eye-candy'.
> But the truth be known, as I get older, short of huge intakes of Omega3,
> I sometimes forget what I was doing before an interruption.  Having a
> different but plain wallpaper is a quick visual reminder that I was
> working on a project and where I was in the work.
> 
> 6) A password protecting the work or project workspace would also be
> useful.  Not for protection of documents etc. (that is done elsewhere)
> but just to keep 'helpful' people and/or grandchildren from messing up
> my work setup.
> 
> 7) Lastly, it seems to me that I can't be the only person in the world
> that does more than one of several unrelated things at the same time on
> their computers. I would have thought that they too would like access to
> more than one workspace setup in order to efficiently go about doing
> those different tasks.

Have you considered logging into separate sessions but as yourself?
Remember that each session is a distinct X server, so it *might* be
possible to set up various accounts (BillA, BillB, BillC) all with the
same uid.gid in /etc/passwd, but with cross-linked home directories so
they each get their own Gconf and X settings. I've no idea what hidden
problems this might cause and it would certainly be tricky to set up
(and remember ...) but it might work.

As for family members, I'm used to them having their own accounts and
locking my sessions. They know how to switch consoles from the
"locked-screen" dialogue (KDE makes this very easy, can't remember about
Gnome). Now of course they all have their own computers so it's not so
important, but they still use it from time to time when Vista screws
up :-)

poc