Compiz -- Discussion
Marko Vojinovic
vvmarko at gmail.com
Mon Dec 28 01:26:01 UTC 2009
On Sunday 27 December 2009 22:24:34 Tim wrote:
> On Sat, 2009-12-26 at 23:57 +0000, Marko Vojinovic wrote:
> > Finally, there is one more very important thing to comment on. One
> > notable misconception that is typically put forward by opponents of
> > eye-candy is that all those effects take time to execute and thus slow
> > you down when using the computer. This is *FUD* and *utter*
> > *bullshit*. .....[snip]..... On today's modern hardware, all those
> > compiz effects can be configured to be executed *faster* than any such
> > human lag, so the system appears completely responsive while doing all
> > that eye-candy stuff.
>
> Utter horseshit, I refute every single one of those claims. You'd have
> to be a slow person, in the first place, for the animated eye candy to
> not slow you down opening menus, and the like.
I am not aware that there is any Compiz[-Fusion] module that deals with menus.
If you point me to one, I guess I would probably be able to point you to some
settings in that module that control animation speed. But this is just
academic, AFAIK. My point was that animations in general can be made
arbitrarily fast so that they don't get in your way. If you feel that anything
is slowing you down, and there is no slider somewhere to speed it up, you can
always disable that particular effect.
What is certainly *not* true is the statement that *all* eye-candy effects
necessarily slow you down.
> e.g. Open menu, instantly pick choice,
Umm, that would be --- open menu, find the choice, navigate the mouse pointer
to it, click on it. Now, it takes at least one second to navigate the mouse
pointer to anything (of that size) on the screen. Ditto for arrow keys. So if
you make the effect last for a 1/4 of a second, it will be over well before you
reach the choice with the pointer.
> versus open menu, wait for effect
> to subside before you can even read menu, then pick choice.
Oh, you are saying it takes time for the menu to be displayed so you can
_read_ it? Sure, in that sense yes, it does slow you down --- it adds, say,
additional 250ms (which should be configurable) to a typical 2-second operation
(read, navigate, click). If this additional quarter of a second is too
expensive, maybe you shouldn't be browsing the menus with a mouse in the first
place?
Using the menus is slow by definition. If you want speed, use hotkeys. That is,
if you know the combination. If not, you are likely to be slow with the menu
both with and without eye-candy stuff.
> The effects are *NOT* that quick that they add insubstantial delays.
Every effect in Compiz that I ever tried (of course I haven't tried everything)
had its speed configurable, "instant" (ie. no effect) being typically the
fastest choice available. Further, most of the effects time can be configured up
to a millisecond. So I would say each of them *can* be configured to be below
anyone's personal threshold. If you find some effect whose speed cannot be
configured, feel free to file a RFE against it, or just turn it off.
But this is all aside of the main point. Eye-candy effects exist so that you
can *enjoy* them, not to get on your nerves. I simply enjoy watching it
happen, and sometimes I deliberately configure things to be slow. When I get
bored of it, I speed animations up again or disable them completely.
Think of it as a stress-relief utility. :-) It is decoration on the screen,
much like pictures on the walls in your home. Its main point is to cheer you
up and make you feel more pleasant when using a computer. If it gets on your
nerves, don't use it.
Best, :-)
Marko
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