"System Settings" window cannot resize

[NickNackGus]

I don't know the technical details of this package. It is the default settings manager in Ubuntu 11.10, latest version as of 12/25/2011 at 8:10 PM EST. This can be accessed by clicking the gear/power button icon in the upper right of the screen, and selecting the top option, "System Settings....". I am trying to make the window full screen, but I there is no maximize button, my maximize shortcut doesn't work, double-clicking the title bar doesn't work, and the window can't be resized through the edges of the window. I would have included the package name or looked at the man pages, but I can't figure out what package this is. I tried going under "help>about" as in most applications, but there is no menu bar. I even recognize the application from Ubuntu 10.10, which I no longer have installed, nor do I plan to install to fix this.

You might be wondering why I'm even posting this bug report. The sound manager now exists solely in this application, and I have multiple audio devices. My most commonly used audio devices are my speakers, which is a 4.0 surround setup, a stereo Bluetooth headset, with microphone, and an HDMI port on my graphics card. Since I cannot resize the window, and the icons only have one size, I am forced to work with what I have. The audio devices are large blocks in a scrollable list, which could technically be replaced with medium sized icons. The HDMI and speaker devices have a number of useful options like left-right balance, front-back balance, and the connector type. These take up the majority of the bottom of the window, and could take up less space if their labels were moved to the left or right of the sliders they describe, rather than below each slider.

The simplest and best solution, however is to simply make the application scalable. I have a rather large display and can afford to have all sorts of options lying around waiting to be put to good use. Some people have smaller screens, and will appreciate my suggestion to make icons smaller. In the even that smaller icons become available, however, make sure that the larger versions remain available. Just because tablets and phones are getting smaller doesn't meen you need to force lower resolutions: people are also trying to make HD TVs, increase screen size, and even bring HD to portable devices. Linux is a scalable environment: as more applications support Unity, more people will be willing to use it. Just make sure that those of us who built servers and gaming PCs aren't sitting at what might as well be a first generation iPod.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/908650/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[NickNackGus (nicknackgus)]

Robert Roth (evfool) found the right package, thanks. The man page presents a number of options, but I'm not sure if any of them can be used to force full screen usage, or a specific size. Either one might prove useful in making the window resizable.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report, the issues with have with the audio capplet are going to be addressed with a redesign this cycle, see http://people.canonical.com/~diwic/sound-settings/sound_settings_mockup_diwic2.png for a mockup of the planned work

[NickNackGus (nicknackgus)]

I think the mockup looks pretty good. The new tab order certainly reflects how often I use change different audio settings. You haven't removed any important features, and have added an on/off switch, so users can, for instance, mute their speakers in case their headphones come unplugged.
However, the new interface is not currently installed in any Ubuntu machines (except perhaps beta testers). Since your mockup doesn't fix this problem, even if it were being written into an update right now, this bug is not "invalid". The sound settings interface is certainly "in progress", but "invalid" would imply that the interface I am now using does not exist.
Also keep in mind that the settings manager is still stuck at one resolution, which is what this bug is truly about. Your new doesn't show a "maximize" button, so I'm assuming it cannot be maximized or resized. With any luck, you will consider that in the settings manager for 12.04, if you have any power over it at all. I'm optimistic enough about this to mark this bug as "in progress".
I have several years of experience in shell, C-like languages, and can learn new ideas quite quickly. I am interested in helping to write linux software of any kind, and I feel this is a perfect opportunity. However, I would still need assistance, as I don't know where to find the source code, and I would need someone to explain to me where the equivalent of "void main" is in order to get started. I would be willing to debug existing code as requested. I have also designed simple GUI for a 100x64 pixel display on a computer that wasn't intended for such graphics capabilities, so I can attempt to write the code for new GUI if mockups like yours are presented.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

sorry but I'm closing that bug again because what you request "cannot resize" is a design decision and not a bug.

 you should rather write the bugs in a way which summarize the issue and then hint possible solutions in comments if you care about your bugs to be "valid" ;-) like a "the current sound capplet doesn't give enough space to devices" would be a valid bug where we could discuss solutions like allowing users to resize the dialog or change the layout.

[NickNackGus (nicknackgus)]

"'cannot resize' is a design decision and not a bug."

This sounds like Microsoft's famed "undocumented features".

Locking the window size adds no value to an application: it detracts a common feature. Larger displays have lots of space, and your present window would be hard to see at all. The smaller displays of netbooks don't have the screen resolution for anything quite as large as your present interface. The interface must scale.

I also note that you responded to my suggestion immediately, in a manner similar to trolls in online forums.

There are a number of valid bugs in Ubuntu that are being declared "invalid" by people working at Canonical. Many of these bug reports were submitted by people who have been using Ubuntu for a long time, including some of the people who helped design Warty, the first version of Ubuntu.

At this point in time I would like to remind you of the basic philosophy of Ubuntu. This was taken directly from the Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope, example content.

Ubuntu is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.
Desmond Tutu described ubuntu in the following way:
"A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole."
We chose the name Ubuntu for this distribution because we think it captures perfectly the spirit of sharing and cooperation that is at the heart of the open source movement. In the Free Software world, we collaborate freely on a volunteer basis to build software for everyone's benefit. We improve on the work of others, which we have been given freely, and then share our improvements on the same basis.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Sorry but I don't think I've ever been impolitude or rude in this bug report, no need to go on an rant about how "the people working at Canonical" behave on the bug tracker.

> Locking the window size adds no value to an application: it detracts a common feature.

It adds a "value" in the sense where it means the layout is fixed and doesn't need to scale and look good on random geometry, which is easier to do.

But anyway that software is not written by Canonical or Ubuntu and I was just relaying the upstream responses to previous requests about that

[pipe (pipatron)]

If you are to lock the window size citing value in a fixed size, at least make sure that the contents of the initial window fits. Upon opening the default "System Settings" window, I get the scroll bar on the right border, but no means to resize the window to make it disappear. Perhaps it is because I chose a different system font than the default, but that should not break basic usability. You should either make the window possible to resize or make sure it can adapt to the contents.

Personally, I can't see any reason for locking the size of any window, since the scroll bars will not be visible if the frame is big enough. You're just removing usability without adding anything of value.

[pipe (pipatron)]

Here's a screenshot of the system settings window in a freshly upgraded 12.04.

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

Related bug 990060, bug 990545

[Joost Van Durme (joostvandurme)]

This inconsistency also annoys me and I found a little workaround.
Edit this file:

/usr/share/gnome-control-center/ui/shell.ui

In the beginning you will see these lines:

    <object class="GtkWindow" id="main-window">
    <property name="title" translatable="yes">System Settings</property>
    <property name="resizable">False</property>
    <property name="icon_name">preferences-desktop</property>
    <property name="window_position">center</property>

Add this line after the last property:

    <property name="width_request">1000</property>

And modify the resizable line to:

    <property name="resizable">True</property>

This will fix the width to 1000 pixels or whatever you enter and make the window resizable. You can also play with the height_request property, similar to width_request. It won't remember anything when you resize though. It will always open at 1000 px width. But at least the damn scrollbar is gone and all icons are visible.

cheers peepz.