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pizza-rat
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 23 Dec 2022
Posts: 81
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 Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 12:08 am Post subject: startup-notification USEflag? |
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| What does this flag actually do? I see it on a few packages I use. Is there much point having it enabled these days? |
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flexibeast
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Joined: 04 Apr 2022
Posts: 325
Location: Naarm/Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 2:11 am Post subject: |
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| The two packages on my system that have that flag, x11-libs/libwnck and x11-terms/rxvt-unicode (both found via `equery h startup-notifications`), use the flag to require the x11-libs/startup-notification library, which in turn implements the freedesktop.org "startup-notification" spec, for providing feedback to users during application startup (e.g. about what subsystems/files are being loaded, etc.). |
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pizza-rat
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 23 Dec 2022
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 6:48 am Post subject: |
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| flexibeast wrote: | | The two packages on my system that have that flag, x11-libs/libwnck and x11-terms/rxvt-unicode (both found via `equery h startup-notifications`), use the flag to require the x11-libs/startup-notification library, which in turn implements the freedesktop.org "startup-notification" spec, for providing feedback to users during application startup (e.g. about what subsystems/files are being loaded, etc.). |
Thanks for the information. I'm still curious as to what the practical purpose of these "startup notifications" is, though, on a modern system. Debug purposes? I think I saw someone say they're used to tell your mouse cursor to enter/leave "busy" mode. |
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flexibeast
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Joined: 04 Apr 2022
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Location: Naarm/Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 7:46 am Post subject: |
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i have no idea about the mouse cursor stuff, so i'll leave it to someone else to comment on that, but i would say that at least one "practical purpose" is the thing i mentioned in my previous comment:
| Quote: | | providing feedback to users during application startup (e.g. about what subsystems/files are being loaded, etc.). |
If a user starts an application from the desktop by clicking on a menu entry, and that application's startup process is not instant (as in the case of, say, GIMP), but the user doesn't receive any feedback that the application is actually in the process of starting up, the user might assume that their click "hasn't worked", and thus click on it again - which might then result in a second instance of the application being started. If the startup process is sufficiently long, and the user sufficiently impatient, they might even try a third time. So startup notifications allow the system to provide clear feedback that says to the user: "Request accepted, working on it." |
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pizza-rat
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 23 Dec 2022
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| flexibeast wrote: | i have no idea about the mouse cursor stuff, so i'll leave it to someone else to comment on that, but i would say that at least one "practical purpose" is the thing i mentioned in my previous comment:
| Quote: | | providing feedback to users during application startup (e.g. about what subsystems/files are being loaded, etc.). |
If a user starts an application from the desktop by clicking on a menu entry, and that application's startup process is not instant (as in the case of, say, GIMP), but the user doesn't receive any feedback that the application is actually in the process of starting up, the user might assume that their click "hasn't worked", and thus click on it again - which might then result in a second instance of the application being started. If the startup process is sufficiently long, and the user sufficiently impatient, they might even try a third time. So startup notifications allow the system to provide clear feedback that says to the user: "Request accepted, working on it." |
I can't say I've ever noticed such feedback. Perhaps I'll just disable the flag and see if I notice any change. |
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flexibeast
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Joined: 04 Apr 2022
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Location: Naarm/Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 9:23 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, it would need the environment you're using to actually make use of the notifications being sent out, which it might not .... |
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