While it is too late to do anything about this in the Karmic cycle, I must
protest the way this issue was handled. First, this issue was discussed in
Ayatana in detail. And a sensible conclusion that everyone seemed to come to
after discussing all possible cases was DND mode + not hiding notifications
in fullscreen apps by default.
But yet, it seems the developers didn't heed this advice and then turned off
notifications without giving user with a DND mode.

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:39 PM, mac_v <email address hidden> wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-10-12 at 08:44 +0000, Mark Shuttleworth wrote:
> > mac_v - the same could be said of your constant repetition of the fact
> > that you missed an IM during a movie. When you quit the movie, the MI
> > told you it was there.
>
> Yes , MI will show *only* when we quit the movie. that is what I'm
> trying to say.
>
> By then the message is too late , it is no longer an *Instant* message.
>
> As I'v said already , the contacts might not even be online by the time
> the movie is over... [and this has happened to me several times until i
> realized where the bug was]
>
> > It's not that big a problem, please stop overplaying the scenario.
>
> Kindly do not minuscule another's personal experience.
>

Various people have discussed various usecases on the Ayatana mailing list.
And no particular use case must be given extra preference. having said that,
the presentation use case is actually something that a minority of the
people are going to experience. various people use apps like pdf readers,
movies, browsers in fullscreen especially with the advent of small screen
netbooks.


>
> I'v not said that a personal IM during a presentation is not embracing
> or is an overplayed scenario. Every experience is important to the user
> affected.
>
> If you could take a few minutes and read back on the Ayatana mailing
> list , several other scenarios were also sighted:
> of them a quite common one > User's using firefox in fullscreen mode
> especially in netbooks.
>
> But , I do believe that the odds for the presentation scenario happening
> are not greater... [already mentioned this in the above comments ]
>
> >  We may get a DND mode in the next round, we
> > don't have one now. Please accept that and engage constructively on
> > other matters.
> >
> I'v accepted this ... and I'm not insisting on a DND asap.
>
> But did suggest an alternative , [I thought I was being constructive ,
> maybe not ], that there be allowed a gconf for turning off this
> feature.
>
> Let the bubbles be suppressed by default but allow the user to revert
> this via a gconf.
> Which *might* not be as tough as implementing a DND... This could be a
> temporary band-aid for users , till we have a DND mode.
>
>
So, all I would say is that the way this issue was handled was definitely
not right. and in future if something is so actively discussed, like this
was in Ayatana list or anywhere else, then it might be best to use that
advice or give a sane rationale not to. And definitely not implement it half
baked.

> --
> Do not suppress async notifications when using fullscreen apps
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/428509
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>