Unity easier way to create new instance from launcher without middle mouse button

[Someone]

I was told to file a bug instead of a suggestion in brainstorm for this (see: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/28622/)
There needs to be an alternate way to open a new instance of an already running application.
Currently the only way to achieve this is a middle click or a shift+meta+number.

When right clicking an application there is an entry with the application name logically clicking it should start a new instance (ala Windows 7) but it doesn't. I think this should be changed.

Also to complement the shift+meta+number shortcut a shift+click should also open a new instance of an already running application. (also works in Windows 7)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: unity 3.8.16-0ubuntu1~natty2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-11.50-generic 2.6.38.8
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-11-generic i686
Architecture: i386
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,grid,imgpng,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,scale,session,unityshell]
Date: Wed Oct 5 18:35:43 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

this has been discussed in the past and the answer from design was "No" there are many app where opening a new instance does not work at all and it seems there is no way to programatically know if a new instance of an app can be launched so implementing this would cause problems. you can report invidual bug for apps you think should have this in their quicklist.

[Someone (temp4746)]

I can't understand your logic.
In nearly every single system I've seen it's up to the application itself to prevent multiple instances or handle them correctly (e.g. open a new tab)
You can already open a new instance of the application by just selecting it in the Dash again or using the shortcuts which are already available mentioned in the bug description.

This bug/enhancement request merely request providing a shortcuts that are more accessible without a middle mouse button.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

the shortcut is there.. super+shift+number

[Someone (temp4746)]

Yes, but I think it's logical to also have shift+leftclick on an icon do the same (open a new instance)
Maybe also changing the entry that shows the application name on the quicklist (right click menu) to open a new instance cause as it stands this entry is useless.

[Reece H. Dunn (msclrhd-gmail)]

Do you really want us to raise a bug for every application where we want a "launch/open new instance" option (gvim, gedit, firefox, nautilus, ...)? That would end up being hundreds of bugs, not counting duplicates.

Also, what about custom applications that are pinned to the launcher (e.g. Firefox Nightly, UX, Aurora, etc. builds downloaded and extracted from mozilla)?

Not having an "open new instance" menu option from the launcher does not stop people running new instances of the application from the Dash Home or a Terminal Shell command line, so are multiple instances going to be prevented from being opened in these cases? It is just more user friendly to have the option to open a new instance from the launcher.

If there is a problem with an application running more than one instance, it should be upto that application to handle it properly (e.g. rhythmbox focuses on an already active instance). If it doesn't work properly, there should be a defect for that application.

[Someone (temp4746)]

In reply to Reece, that's again not what this defect report is about. I don't expect you to manually check each and every application and add an entry to open a new instance...

I simply request to leverage an existing functionality in Unity to make it more comfortable.
It is already possible to open a new instance for an already running application you use middle-click or super+shift+<number/letter>, I merely ask for the addition of a shift+leftclick shortcut so it's more comfortable for people with no middle mouse button (touchpads for example).

In addition there is no reason to have an entry with the name of an application in it's right click menu in the launcher that does exactly the same as clicking the application... so why not do what Windows 7 did? Windows 7 has the same entry in it's own right click menu (jumplist) clicking it opens a new instance of an already running application or just starts it if it's not running.

This is a change that would be done solely in Unity not in every single application, and since as noted it's up to each application to handle multiple instance or block them, this will work as intended and already does work as intended using the existing shortcuts.

[Reece H. Dunn (msclrhd-gmail)]

@Someone: I was replying to Omer Akram's "you can report invidual bug for apps you think should have this in their quicklist.", not your suggestion.

Sorry for not making that clear.