Workspaces arranged in a static grid

[alankeny]

I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the newbie questions forum. It's a request from a Linux Mint newbie.

I tried running Fedora 15 with Gnome 3 and Gnome Shell. I lasted about a week before I had to go back to Ubuntu 10.10 and Gnome 2. I found the dynamic workspaces in Gnome 3 so unpredictable, I couldn't get any work done. I run a lot of full-screen applications including VMWare Workstation and RDesktop. I keep my workspaces organized in a 3x3 grid, so I can quickly switch between local applications, virtual machines, and remote desktop sessions.

I understand that Linux Mint is developing extensions for Gnome 3 that will make it work more like a typical Linux desktop. Is it or will it be possible to organize Gnome 3 workspaces in a static grid in Linux Mint?

[Danko8321]

I support your idea; I was just about to post the exact same thing in the forums. With the development of Cinnamon and with Mint no longer wanting to keep compatibility with Gnome 3 and Gnome Shell, it is a thing that certainly can be done; I like the Workspace Grid, but with Gnome 3's Window Overview and Mint's upcoming Cinnamon Expo, the 3x3 Desktop Grid will no longer be an option; I feel a bit of nostalgy and everithing, but understand it is for the better; however, I do hate Gnome 3's approach to workspaces and would like to ask the Mint team to please let us have, at a bare minimum, a static number of workspaces, even if they are arranged in a single line. I hope Clem gets to see this and considers putting them back. Cheers. Danko.

[Holiday]

I really need static workspaces. For me the mandated dynamic workspaces, and the disconcerting management of applications across workspaces, are distro-killers.

It is crazy that when in workspace 3, I open a terminal - hoping to have a terminal dedicated to the tasks of workspace 3 - I am transported back to the terminal in workspace 1.

This is wrong! It violates the integrity of the 'workspace'.

I installed a javascript app that purports to provide static workspaces, but it does not appear in any of my menus.

I've been using Linux for fifteen+ years and always a 'workspace' has been the functional equivalent of a virtual desktop. We should be able to assign workspace-specific wallpapers, even.

Just adding my vote to the count for static workspaces. It would be great to create a new workspace when I want to, but I don't need one created when I don't want to. Particularly when it doesn't behave like a real workspace at all.

I suspect that the designers did not understand workspaces and how people use them. That's ok. But if you don't get it, don't mess with it.

[Danko8321]

I really need static workspaces. For me the mandated dynamic workspaces, and the disconcerting management of applications across workspaces, are distro-killers.

It is crazy that when in workspace 3, I open a terminal - hoping to have a terminal dedicated to the tasks of workspace 3 - I am transported back to the terminal in workspace 1.

This is wrong! It violates the integrity of the 'workspace'.

I installed a javascript app that purports to provide static workspaces, but it does not appear in any of my menus.

I've been using Linux for fifteen+ years and always a 'workspace' has been the functional equivalent of a virtual desktop. We should be able to assign workspace-specific wallpapers, even.

Just adding my vote to the count for static workspaces. It would be great to create a new workspace when I want to, but I don't need one created when I don't want to. Particularly when it doesn't behave like a real workspace at all.

I suspect that the designers did not understand workspaces and how people use them. That's ok. But if you don't get it, don't mess with it.

Well, Cinnamon has static Workspaces since version 1.4 as does KDE, Xfce, LXDE and MATE (That's all the DEs I've used). I do not like Gnome Shell so I don't use it anymore, but both Cinnamon and MATE are very good. Cosider using one of those. MATE is basically exactly the same as Gnome 2 and Cinnamon is porting Gnome 2 functionalities to Gnome 3. Both projects have done a great work and include static workspace management. Take a look at them and tell us if you like any of them.

[mercurycc]

Not able to have a 2D grid is still a problem for me. In my case I use it to organize my work space in a way where each row will represent a perforce branch, where each column will roughly represent a task, such as coding, compilation, debugging, etc.

The point is there are many different use cases out there encouraged by OS X, Gnome 2, KDE, Xfce, etc, so when people see GNOME 3 or Cinnamon couldn't do a 2D workspace grid, they will just leave without saying a thing. After all GNOME 3 sucks on many many other aspects, and Cinnamon is so new.

[Danko8321]

Not able to have a 2D grid is still a problem for me. In my case I use it to organize my work space in a way where each row will represent a perforce branch, where each column will roughly represent a task, such as coding, compilation, debugging, etc.

The point is there are many different use cases out there encouraged by OS X, Gnome 2, KDE, Xfce, etc, so when people see GNOME 3 or Cinnamon couldn't do a 2D workspace grid, they will just leave without saying a thing. After all GNOME 3 sucks on many many other aspects, and Cinnamon is so new.

Then you, sir, should go with Mate

I hadn't paid attention to it for long and wasn't sure it was such a good idea, but Mate is amazing. Tried it on LMDE and simply Loved it!

However, that only applies to version 1.2 (1.0, which is the one Mint 12 has, isn't really all that good so you would have to use the pure mate repos in order to get the 1.2 going). I would deffinitively give it a try since you can use Compiz in it and indeed arrange your workspaces in a static grid

If you don't have mate, I believe you can istall it via the command

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

and then do a little tweaking in order to make compiz rule by default which should leave you with the desktop you have.

Mate is a fork of Gnome 2 whose libraries, components and dependencies were renamed so that they wouldn't be incompatible with Gnome 3 (you can't have several versions of the same app in your system no matter how hard you try since it would create a mess (Imagine clicking the icon named "Firefox" and the OS doesn't know wheter to launch version 1 or 2 ) ) so Mate does something both interesting and necesary. Again, it is Compiz the one that provides the desktop grid and Compiz works with Gnome Classic, KDE, Xfce, LXDE (I think?) and Mate but not with Cinnamon or Gnome Shell (yes, I hate those pesky developers too ). Anyway, please do keep in mind that you *do* have options and that Mint developers are doing their best in order to satisfy all their users; ultimately, the choise of a DE can be a good or a bad thing and you should never stop looking for options if you are not happy with the ones you have. Again, if you were a Gnome 2 fanboy (as well as me) I would strongly suggest Mate since, well, it is Gnome 2.

EDIT: Wrong package; nox fixed

[_deepfire]

An idea was just submitted, regarding this functionality:

"Rectangular grid workspace layout for Cinnamon":
http://community.linuxmint.com/idea/view/2671

[hernejj]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. For those who are interested, an applet now exists to provide a 2D workspace grid for Cinnamon.
http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/applets/view/116