should be possible to display only windows from the current workspace in the launcher

Bug #683170 reported by Sebastien Bacher
780
This bug affects 179 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
Ayatana Design
Won't Fix
Undecided
John Lea
Unity
Won't Fix
Wishlist
Unassigned
unity (Ubuntu)
Won't Fix
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: unity

Since unity targets desktop users as well in natty it should be possible to set a configuration settings (could be a gsettings key) that lets the launcher display only applications on the current workspace. While that mode might not be useful for most users it's something technical users using workspaces for their different activities are used to.

Changed in unity:
status: New → Incomplete
Changed in unity (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl) wrote : Re: [Bug 683170] Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

Sebastian, do you mean that the "running" emblems should only show for
apps which are running on the current workspace?

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote : Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

No, I mean the launcher should have icons only for things running on the current workspace (the same way the GNOME taskslist does only list by default what is on the current workspace)

Revision history for this message
Sebastien Bacher (seb128) wrote :

The rational is that some of our users have their activities by workspace, like one workspace for hacking, one for chat activities, etc. When you use the computer this way you probably just want to know about things which are part of the context you are currently in, it's easier to find your way between you hacking tasks when only those are listed and you don't have to figure what is running somewhere else you are not using

Revision history for this message
Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl) wrote : Re: [Bug 683170] Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

We could do this for the launcher icons which are not pinned to the
launcher, but that would mean a slightly weird inconsistency.

Mark

Revision history for this message
Didier Roche-Tolomelli (didrocks) wrote : Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

I think we talked at UDS about folding launchers who aren't in the current ws. Thinking about it, it can be weird as when you start your desktop, that would mean all launchers to be folded. I still agree with seb that there should be an easy way to discover which launchers are in your current ws from the launcher, even if we show everything.

Revision history for this message
Marc Deslauriers (mdeslaur) wrote :

I opened a bug for a slightly different issue that is related to this one (and got duped to this one).

I think the launcher should still display the icons for apps running in all workspaces, but _clicking_ on a launcher icon for an app that is open more than once should only display the windows from the current workspace (or automatically switch if there's only one instance on the current workspace).

Revision history for this message
Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl) wrote : Re: [Bug 683170] Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

Right these are separate issues. One is about which icons get displayed
on the launcher (this one). This should be closed as opinion - we want
to show all the icons on all the workspaces in the launcher. However, we
are evaluating varying the "running" emblem according to whether the app
is running on THIS workspace or only on others.

The other bug is about the spread of windows that you get from clicking
on the icon in the launcher. And that bug is correct, it should be
confirmed, you SHOULD only see a spread of windows from that app IF
there are windows in that workspace.

Mark

Revision history for this message
David Prieto (frandavid100-gmail) wrote : Re: should be possible to display only the launchers on the current workspace

Please consider the solution proposed in bug #667245. Having a graphical representation of the workspaces on the sidebar would allow you to group launchers by workspace AND hide launchers from inactive workspaces (either when needed or at all times).

Revision history for this message
Didier Roche-Tolomelli (didrocks) wrote :

Ok, renaming this one to Mark's comment as "showing a running emblem" and commented on the wrong dup.

Revision history for this message
Bazon (bazonbloch) wrote :

PLEASE add at least this option, just as it was for the classic gnome task-bar.
that's exactly the reason I don't use the netbook edition on my netbook:
i'm used to have 6 workspaces (2 private, 4 for my job) and I really like not being distracted by anything going on on the other workspaces. it get's so confusing having an over-full launcher in which I have to scroll. (plus selecting one from several text files just by the shrinked representation of its window is also quite hard...)

Revision history for this message
Bazon (bazonbloch) wrote :

by the way, there is a very consistent way:

make as if the other workspaces simply weren't there.
that's the way i would suppose it to be. no icons and no running indicators for windows on other workspaces.
remember: using several workspaces is useful to avoid distraction from things going on on other workspaces.
(what else should several workspaces be good for if one sees all the stuff from other workspaces anyway?)

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

I work much the same way as Bazon.
I share computers with my wife
By agreement the 1st Workspace is always her's, what ever the music player on the 4th [banshee blows]

Revision history for this message
Lorem Daijoh (lorem-daijoh) wrote :

I agree with Sebastien Bacher, Bazon and Garthhh. Launcher should not show icons for all open programs but only for those in the current workspace.

That would help to keep the Launcher tidy and simple to use and also be more consistent with App Spread and Alt-Tab.

Best way/time to present all the open windows in the Launcher would be to do that only in the overhead (Expo) mode. That would be very intuitive.

Revision history for this message
A (amland) wrote :

As far as i understand, workspaces were meant to achieve two things:
1. Grouping applications (into activities or tasks).
2. Reduce clutter with many open applications.

Hiding only the "running" emblems takes care of 1, but not 2. The launcher WILL clutter up. Hiding non-pinned applications will act basically the same as classic gnome and solves both.

If this is a design choice, then I'm interested to know what the unity team mean workspaces are for.

Revision history for this message
Afterlifesol (afterlifesol) wrote :

This is also very import to me. It's very important if you have work spaces dedicated to different tasks.

The extra running launcher icons showing in the launcher makes it harder to find what you want in the current work space. Clicking to get a new browser for that work space and getting dragged into another work space will drive you mad. These are some simple things that are impotent to me. Things that will drive me away from unity.

I believe it would be best to have a option at least to have it function like the old gnome panels with the ability to keep things pinned.

I think it would work like:

"Keep in launcher" icons show on all the work spaces. Active windows in the current work space would be the only other icons show on the launcher. Anything running on the other work spaces should not be shown.

Clicking on a browser on this work space should launch a browser on this work space irrespective if there is one already running on another work space.

If fact I think the middle click should be reversed, middle click should see if the program has a window on another work space and take you to it. Left click should always launch a window on current work space, or bring to the front the current window.

Its really annoying to get ripped out of your current work space into another.. if I wanted to go to another work space I would go there.

Of course I've more then happy if this is a option, does not have to be default. But does really need to be there.

for example Docky has this exact setup, though you do have to turn it on. Check
https://bugs.launchpad.net/docky/+bug/590556

Hope that makes at least a little sense little bitty late here.

Revision history for this message
Seth Burleigh (wburle) wrote :

Agreed. Pinned icons should stay pinned (but only have the arrow display what is in the current workspace). non pinned icons should not be displayed in a workspace unless it is open in that workspace.

Atleast, it should be an option!

Revision history for this message
Lufa (yuriy.smetana) wrote :

Me too.

I don't need icons of the programs which are not running on the current workspace.

Revision history for this message
JC (nothingness) wrote :

Maybe the gnome 3 implementation of unity in oneric will fix this issue?

Revision history for this message
Josh Brown (joshbrown) wrote :

I concur; this problem will greatly hinder many users.

summary: - should be possible to display only the launchers on the current
- workspace
+ should be possible to display only windows from the current workspace
Revision history for this message
Bazon (bazonbloch) wrote : Re: should be possible to display only windows from the current workspace

I hope this change of summary is not confusing:
Of course only windows from the current workspace are shown in the current workspace, the problem is the representation in the LAUNCHER.

IS this really included in the new summary? Shouldn't it be changed back?

John Lea (johnlea)
Changed in ayatana-design:
status: New → Won't Fix
assignee: nobody → John Lea (johnlea)
Revision history for this message
Josh Brown (joshbrown) wrote :

Bazon, I fail to see how the old summary made sense. You have a good point about the new summary, so I've changed it again. Please feel free to make further adjustments if necessary.

summary: - should be possible to display only windows from the current workspace
+ should be possible to display only windows from the current workspace in
+ the launcher
Revision history for this message
Bazon (bazonbloch) wrote :

"This bug report will be marked for expiration in 55 days if no further activity occurs."

Veto against that. This is still an issue that makes Unity unusable for me.

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

Please fix this

there needs to be a way to keep workspaces separate or why have them [enlightenment]?

Revision history for this message
Afterlifesol (afterlifesol) wrote :

I also agree, this is a major problem for people who use many workspaces running the same application for different purposes. Please fix this.

Revision history for this message
Matt Richardson (m-richardson-1990) wrote :

The added visual clutter of all of my open windows in the launcher, regardless of workspace effectively negates most of what I gained by using separate workspaces in the first place.

PLEASE at least introduce this as an option. Thank you

Revision history for this message
Vladimir Bebeshko (vbebeshko) wrote :

Agree. I need the described behaviour.
Please, please fix this.
As an option at least.

Revision history for this message
Jo-Erlend Schinstad (joerlend.schinstad-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

I think it would be really useful to have a more context aware workspaces. But that is a much larger issue than just how to display tiles on the launcher. For instance, shouldn't links you open in your Hacking workspace open in the browser in that workspace? What about files you open in Nautilus. Shouldn't those open in the editor on the right workspace? I think so. That makes this issue much bigger, but no less important.

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :
Revision history for this message
blueridgedog (blueridgedog) wrote :

I believe this is a bug, not a design choice. Each workspace should be discrete.

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

see comment #7
MS means for it to be this way

description: updated
Revision history for this message
vishal Ithape (vishal8492) wrote :

It is a bug please don't ugnore this.

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vishal Ithape (vishal8492) wrote :

*ignore sorry.

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aldana (aldana) wrote :

MAJOR usability bug, i just upgraded to 11.10 ubuntu and this problem now popped up on my side. workspaces are central, now I really regret my upgrade :(

please fix

Revision history for this message
Mihai Capotă (mihaic) wrote :

The current launcher behavior goes against established workspace usage, since it generates a lot of clutter, as commented before.

Could a designer please comment on the envisaged use case for workspaces in Unity?

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

see comment #7 by MS

Revision history for this message
A (amland) wrote :

We know Garthhh, no need to spam. The problem is, no one has been able to come up with a usecase for current behavior. The only reason to use workspaces is to avoid clutter, but then unity "worspaces" solves nothing. And the only argument given for this behavior is: "we want to"-MS

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

It was clear to me that Mihai hadn't read the entire thread
not spam, helpful member of the community :D

Changed in unity:
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
Changed in unity (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
Changed in unity:
status: Incomplete → Won't Fix
Changed in unity (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
Eduards Bezverhijs (mjasnik) wrote :

Hi, I'll proved complete use case. I wonder how come noone haven't provided one.

I use computer for real work in big enterprise (we kind of forked ubuntu and have our own "distro" or variant called TUbuntu) and workspaces helped me to solve all the hassle with apps. As soon there will be no support for old gnome behavior (I use 11.04 with unity removed :)), I'm starting to look at the possibilities to work efficiently with G3 and Unity. Unity suites me best. This one is really annoying in my case.

I use workspaces like this:
1-5 ar for work, 6 - mine.
*) 1 is for common things, like e-mails, company chat windows etc.
*) 2-5 are for different projects I'm working on or different parts of the same project which
*) 6th is mine, my things

Problem with all this is that I use a lot of aplications and quite a lot are the same for each workspace. For instance, Firefox, I use it to access our Oracle Ebusiness Suite environments, ususally I have like 5-7 of them opened for projects + company main one = my things. The same goes for JDeveloper, various java applets, chat windows (be it skype or pidgin/emphaty), terminal windows and so on.
In unity this is hard to differentiate them in the launcher, when I'm working on Project X I'm expecting that launcher shows me the windowses that are for that project workspace only, not my stuff or things that don't fit in the context at all, like some random game I opened on my workspace.

So my proposal is:
*) don't show icons for apps that are not on current workspace
*) pinned icons stay there all the time
*) draw a slim line in between the pinned ones and opened on demand
*) when some app wants attention, put it on the end blinking if on different WS, otherwise blink it where it is
*) make it an option as most users do not sperate their work

I hope this is not late for 12. For me this is the reason I avoid newer release of unity.

Revision history for this message
Stiki (steven-wooding) wrote :

Just for future stubles upon this thread. As I see that there are still a couple of people complaining about this issue on the internet in general. This issue will apparently be fixed in 12.04 LTS.

http://iloveubuntu.net/unity-52-released-new-home-view-shortcut-overlay-middle-click-pasting-and-more

Quote
"new window spread mode based only on the current workspace (if there are two nautilus windows opened on the current desktop and three Nautilus windows opened on other workspaces, clicking the nautilus icon from the Unity launcher triggers the window spread mode only for the two windows from the current workspace)"

Hopefully this means that if there are no nautilus windows open on the current workspace and the nautilus pinned icon is clicked in the launcher it will open a new one in the current workspace and not upset you by moving to an already existing one on another workspace. So lets wait and hope for the best.

I am SO EXCITED! Finally!!!! :)

Revision history for this message
Mihai Capotă (mihaic) wrote :

Stiki, I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but icons for windows from other workspaces are still present in the launcher in Unity 5.2 on Precise. This bug is definitely not fixed. I do only see windows from the current workspace in the window spread, it's true.

Revision history for this message
anthropornis (anthropornis) wrote :

Agree that this is a bug, not an opinion. Calling it a "design choice" does not mitigate the problem; these design choices limiting choice are themselves bugs, and don't cease to be so just because the designers refuse to acknowledge reality.

Revision history for this message
Stiki (steven-wooding) wrote :

Sigh!!! This is really a problem. I use Ubuntu as a work machine. And sometimes have 30+ windows open. And the only way to manage it is by using workspaces. I am the owner of a software development company with 8 developers all running Ubuntu 11.04. I don't want to upgrade Ubuntu since I will lose the Gnome2 desktop when I do. And I need the Gnome2 desktop soley for the purpose of keeping workspaces separate. And so far Gnome2 has worked very well!

What would be ideal is to have the workspaces completely separate. Almost like when you go to another workspace you "switched" to another computer, knowing nothing that is going on in any other workspace. Bringing workspaces together in unity defy's the whole purpose of workspaces. It does not work. I tried using it. And it just doesn't work. Now things are a complete mess. It jumps form one workspace to another and I don't know what is going on. Windows are opening in the wrong workspaces because it switched to another workspace without asking me, or the animation was too quick for me to notice.

When I click "firefox" in one workspace, it will jump to another instance that is already open in another workspace. But I never wanted to move workspaces, if I wanted to I would have done so. If there wasn't a firefox open in the current workspace, then open one! When I am in one workspace I don't care what is going on in other workspaces. Each workspace is a context. Like I have an Email workspace, A workspace for each task I am busy with. A workspace for live servers (consoles, phpmyadmin->firefox, files, gedit windows etc) and a workspace for the local development server.

And Gnome 3 has exactly the same problem, and Gnome2 is not part of the ubuntu package anymore, so I don't have any other options, its like the days of workspaces is actually a thing of the past. And there is no workaround either for gnome3 or unity. So it seems like things are going backward for the user that uses ubuntu for work.

If it is a design choice then I need to search for another solution. So my questions are : What are the alternatives? Is there a solution for Unity to separate workspaces COMPLETELY? Is there a solution for Gnome3 to respond like this? Is there another Desktop that works like this except for KDE? I would really NOT like to switch to KDE since the file manager is not nice to use and things just don't work as reliably as the gnome based Desktops. Is ther a free tool for Windows 7 that actually works reliably and is stable? Will it actually help to start building a community to fight the option to have an extra checkbox in compiz-settings-manager to have this?

Revision history for this message
Mihai Capotă (mihaic) wrote :

@Stiki This is probably the right place to discuss this, but you should know that gnome-panel is alive and well in 12.04. You can have the bottom panel with the window list and workspace switcher that behaves just like in GNOME 2. Set the Unity launcher to auto-hide and you're good to go.

Revision history for this message
Stiki (steven-wooding) wrote :

@Mihai

Thanks for the swift response. You have no idea how much I have googled to search for a solution like this. Difficult to come up with the right phrasing to search for :) Lets hope that other people googling will also find this answer from now on!

I have installed gnome-panel and it definitely helps a lot. Will see how it goes from now on. Thanks for the advice!

Just to give you an idea of my problem. Please look at the screenshot I took today after a day's work:

http://41.0.71.70/files/unity_full.png

The clutter is insane!

Revision history for this message
Aaron Tinio (aptinio) wrote :

I do not pin any icons to my launcher. The variation of the small arrow of the emblem that indicates it is running on the current workspace isn't enough to tell me at a glance which workspace I am on.

Could an option at least be provided that will allow unpinned icons running on other workspaces to be hidden?

Revision history for this message
Kruptein (darragh-ssa) wrote :

I do want to see this implented as well, I have the same problem as Stiki that I just can't work because of the ammount of apps opened;

It just wonders me that it's not possible at all as it was always possible in gnome2 and awn docks etc AFAIK.

Revision history for this message
Eduards Bezverhijs (mjasnik) wrote :

Please see this bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/1027949, I tried to create it as clear and understandable as possible.

Revision history for this message
Bazon (bazonbloch) wrote :

For those who switched to Gnome-Shell (as I did): I wrote an extension to change the behaviour described in this bug on Gnome-Shell's Dash (=left side icon bar in overview):
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/440/workspace-separation-on-dash/
It's for Gnome-Shell 3.4, if you are running another version of Gnome-Shell and want to test it, just send me a mail, I'm also interested knowing if it is compatible to all Gnome-Shell Versions: bazonbloch ät arcor.de

Revision history for this message
Ken (kkinder) wrote :

I use each workspace as room for a separate project. So I'll have a separate instance of my IDE, web browser with the site open, web browser with the bug tracker, and an email client window open for that project. Not having this feature makes it cumbersome to use Unity, even though it's generally a pretty nice environment.

Moreover, the "wont fix" status of this really underscores the arrogance and open contempt that developers of Unity have for the community. This is the bad taste in everyone's mouth that sends users to XFCE, KDE, anywhere where their opinion matters. "wontfix" is code for "wontlisten".

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Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

compounding the problem are OBO [ our benevolent overlord] 'freeing" the kde & xfce part of the family from ubuntu

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James Fox (jfox950) wrote :

I've been trying to use unity working with multiple workspaces for nearly a week forcing myself to stick with it. However the only way I can work productively is to hide the launcher and not use it relying on Super+W, alt-tab and synapse. Which is quickly drawing me to the conclusion unity cant effectively be used to work with multiple workspaces so why use unity?

If you work on one thing at a time with a couple of windows open unity is fine. Working on multiple tasks is just plain difficult. How is this not an issue?

I have a feeling I'll be using Xfce next week.

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BenE (b-essiambre) wrote :

In support of making workspaces more independent like others suggested above. This is a huge pain point for me. Also we need to get back some kind of single-click workspace switcher.

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Martin Weißhaupt (mweisshaupt) wrote :

I don't understand why this is marked wontfix. This is still a major usability problem for advanced users!

I do see the point that not all users will understand this but why shouldn't there be an option for advanced users to enable it if they want it?

Revision history for this message
Dahna (dahna) wrote :

+1 it's crazy and a shame that such basic thing is impossible, even on windows it's possible to provide such functionality.
I really love the feel and looks of ubuntu but when working I have about 40-60 windows opened, under such circumstances launchbar simply unusable, thus I have to use other distribution, that not as nice but doesn't have this serious flaw.

Revision history for this message
Akronix (akronix) wrote :

+1 more, it becomes a need when you work with more than one workspace.
At least, let the option to activate it.
I like dash, but I don't like at all the policy of Canonical of making the OS UNCUSTOMIZABLE.

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VT (veetee) wrote :

I assume this will also affect dual screens? I would like to have per screen icons on the unity bar rather than all icons from all screen on each bar.

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kernoelpanic (kernoelpanic) wrote :

+1
same here - i like to split task among workspaces so i would love to configure the bar for the individual tasks or at least be able to just see the active windows of the currently active workspace and not all of them. (I know there is this small difference in the arrow icon of the window but in the heat of the moment this is really indisdiguishable)

Revision history for this message
Omadas (bsperger) wrote :

Duplicate Bug report: Bug #1027949 . This bug fire is already blazing, please mark this bug as a wishlist/feature item, and get some more recent comment from the design team. I think the situation described in that bug report makes for a convincing argument for this feature, and there is no reasonable argument to not enable this as an option in the unity settings of CCSM.

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

welcome to ubun
you can have whatever you want, except when the deep pockets doesn't agree
stop banging your head against the wall
change desktop environments or better yet change to a different distro that values the community more fully

Revision history for this message
Omadas (bsperger) wrote :

"except when the deep pockets doesn't agree" This is open source, if I really wanted to invest my time to change it I could dedicate some of MY time to change it and fork Unity. I only want this to be readdressed since the last time this issue was brought up it was back in 2010, and this bug is still here. I just believe it warrants another look by the design team. This feature is not difficult to implement, but may not look nice with Unity's Task bar on the left, since windows on other work-spaces would have to have some intelligent way of interacting with the 'pinned' applications and open applications.

I would suggest that Unity's task panel could have two different settings:

One where it ignore open windows on other work-spaces, 'pinned' apps remaining 'pinned' and unopened (clicking on a pin in this case only opening a window in the current work-space and ignoring open apps for switching on other work-spaces) (This may require optionally including new 'tab switching' behavior to ignore windows on other work-spaces as well, where it may not already be supported). This should not be the default behavior and should only be implemented on PC's and work stations as that is the only atmosphere where these settings would be useful.

Two where'pinned' applications and opened ones behave by showing windows on all work-spaces, exactly the way unity handles work-spaces now. This should be the default behavior since Unity is moving towards the Cell Phone/Tablet/All-in-One concept, and this behavior is preferable on smaller screens where work-spaces will be less useful as PC 'work horses'.

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

while it may be open source, not community developed or maintained
MS is putting up money for development & gets to decide the direction of the development...
In 2010 this was made clear, the "bug"[design feature] is marked won't fix
talk of this bug was banned from the user forum

Revision history for this message
dahnanet (dahnanet-dahnanet) wrote :

I can't believe that it cannot be customized.
I'm developer and I keep 20-40 windows open on 9 different workspaces so unity panel is almost useless

Please don't make Windows 8 mistake when you assume that all users of your software are stupid monkey that need no power features, or you are risking losing base.
Take a look even windows 10 supports it, should we give it a try?

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flimo (balazs-klement) wrote :

Wow, bug reported four years ago(!), and still not fixed. Disappointing.

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MaikoID (maikoid) wrote :

Five years now =|

Revision history for this message
Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

Remember Ubun is 100% supported by the deep pockets of a guy, Mark Shuttleworth
This is considered a design feature by Mark Shuttleworth
notice this bug is marked
won't fix
the solution is use a different desktop environment or a better distro

Revision history for this message
Johan (johanh-botha) wrote :

I recently moved from Opensuse with KDE (opensuse user since 2002) to Ubuntu, and I must say, this is the thing that annoys me the most in Unity. I also feel it should be an option.
In KDE it is a tick-box. By default it shows everything, but you can set it to only show the windows in your current workspace.
This is great for separating different types of activities you are busy with.
KDE takes it one step further, and you can even define more activities, each with its own set of workspaces, where you can even set different backgrounds etc.
Other than this, I like Ubuntu a lot, and can see why it is so popular, so I will probably keep using it regardless.

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Woden Cafe (wodencafe) wrote :

I will not be using unity until this *bug* is fixed.

Plasma 5 is buggy but at least the designers will listen to reason (and their user base).

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zako (chr-pinedo) wrote :

I think this is a serious usability problem. If Unity provide multiple workspaces, it should provide also an efficient way of using them and it is not provided until now.

I am really happy with unity and its keyboard shortcuts to improve my productiveness but this is one of the things that annoy me most and make me consider other desktop environments such as KDE or GNOME.

Revision history for this message
Michal Zubkowicz (michalzubkowicz) wrote :

I've just tried to change my workflow to be less distracted on current task (ie. by unread email counter), but there is no way to do that when all apps from another workspace are still visible.
If they didn't change anything for 5 years so I suppose I shouldn't expect such behaviour on 16.04 :/

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Jamie Hutber (jamie-2) wrote :

I also can't use unity because of this problem. Its hugely frustrating for me :(

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Garthhh (gchoyman) wrote :

the only solution is to move to a different desktop environment
you are not obligated to use Unity
the choices range from minimal XFCE, MATE to more full featured KDE
Mate is well within the Gnome universe & allows for workspaces to be independent of each other

Revision history for this message
franglais.125 (franglais.125-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Over 5 years later, and still the same problem. Let us be clear: the problem is not this bug, but Ubuntu itself.

I jumped to Debian (Jessie) almost a year ago. I now look back at my time with Ubuntu and feel bad for myself, just as I feel bad for you guys still using this train-wreck of a distribution.

I was too used to Ubuntu (used it for 6 years), and it took me a long time before going the Debian way. It's too bad I didn't ditch it earlier. I can't imagine myself using Canonical software again.

Please, do yourselves a favour, and TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. You'll thank yourselves later.

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Timothy (x-tim-c) wrote :

Please consider adding this feature. The "you're not supposed to do it like that" perspective I see so much in the Linux community prevents its adoption.

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Jamie Hutber (jamie-2) wrote :

Yep, also am having to move away from ubuntu because of this "feature"

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franglais.125 (franglais.125-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

I had completely forgotten about this issue, happy Gnome-Shell user for a long time.

Anyone bothered by this: you can try Gnome-Shell + the Dash-To-Dock extension. Yes, it has workspace isolation.

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bottero (alexis-bottero) wrote :

To me it is one of the two remaining issues to Unity especially when you are using several screens.
The second one is about the workspace switcher which could be clikable and appear at the right of the dash menu and showing the exact number of workspaces. Except that it is great... Shame!

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Pradeep Kumar (pradeepsixer) wrote :

If you do not want to give up on the consistency, let the user choose between them. Provide a settings for Workspace so that user can choose between the two behaviours. I would not want someone else to see what applications are running on my other workspaces.

Also if i move an application to other workspace, clicking on the launcher within the current workspace should invoke a new instance, rather than switching to the instance in other workspace.

This would be a great addition to Unity.

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Pradeep Kumar (pradeepsixer) wrote :

In my previous comment (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/683170/comments/77), I mistook the nature of consistency Mark was talking about (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/683170/comments/4). If you want it to be consistent, then for the pinned launchers, make it so that clicking on the launcher creates a new instance, rather than switching to the running instance in other workspace. That would be consistent with the new behaviour as well as the behaviour of other DEs.

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Kyle Shovan (codebykyle) wrote :

This would be a great feature to have. I am with the other people here who use work spaces as a management system for different projects and topics. It is very confusing to have the Launcher include everything in a single bar, across all work spaces, and makes Unity very difficult to use.

+1 for this issue being resolved.

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Chai T. Rex (chaitrex) wrote :

This issue is fixed in Ubuntu 17.10 and later (which use GNOME instead of Unity). See https://askubuntu.com/a/1002071/616451 for how to enable it.

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