Design and implement workspace creation and removal

[Dario Bertini]

Binary package hint: unity

As far as i know there's no way to configure the number of workspaces inside unity (aside from tweaking the gconf settings).

In a normal gnome session it's possible to use the gnome-panel applet itself.

In a gnome-shell session the number of desktops can be easily changed on the fly.

but there's no option in unity, and this can be a problem since other applications (like the gnome-shell itself) can change the relevant keys inside gconf, thus leaving the user with a less than optimal (for unity usage at least) number of workspaces (like 1 or 3) and no way of changing it inside the session.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: unity 0.2.36-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-20.29-generic 2.6.35.4
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-20-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Sep 15 16:43:39 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=it_IT.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: unity

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

 status confirmed
 importance medium

We're going to address this in 11.04, without a settings window, so the
bug would better be titled "Design and implement workspace creation and
removal"

[David Barth (dbarth)]

Thanks for the suggestion. The bug has been transfered to our natty backlog.

[Gary M (garym)]

Looking for a workaround based on the description above, I ran Configuration Editor and found the gconf key "/apps/metacity/general/num_workspaces" -- and this seemed to have an immediate effect during the session.

(Please advise if this is incorrect or if there is a better work-around.)

[David Prieto (frandavid100-gmail)]

I've found the method gnome-shell uses (plus / minus buttons) to be extremely intuitive and easy to use.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

marked wontfix for natty as the release is in a week and the change was not implemented.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

Is this in scope for Oneiric or has this been de-scoped?

[John Lea (johnlea)]

My understanding is that at the moment it is descoped, unless Jason Smith's team finish their other tasks in time to work on this item.

[Angelo Compagnucci (angeloc)]

Workspaces can now be changed in CCSM, under "General Options" > "Desktop Size" > Horizonthal/Vertical Virtual Size.
It works at runtime, and I think that a separate cinfiguration window is not needed anymore, cause this is an advanced task and for this type of task CCSM would suffice.

I think there is no reason why a normal user should change workspaces number and screw up unity.

[Stephen Rees-Carter (valorin)]

I disagree, the ability to easily and dynamically change the number of workspaces is a killer feature for those of us who use them a lot. It's the one huge advantage Gnome Shell has over Unity.

Instead of further crippling workspaces in Unity, can we head down the Gnome Shell path and make it a simple but powerful feature? If done right, basic users will not be confused, and power users will be very happy...