D24281: Add default shortcut to switch to the desktop to the left/right/top/bottom

[Nathaniel Graham]

ngraham added a comment.


  The fact that the proposed shortcuts are not innovative is precisely the point. Shortcuts do not need to be innovative. They need to be consistent, logical discoverable, and ergonomic. What's proposed in this patch is:
  
  - **Consistent**: It's what Windows does, which is a feature, not a bug. Easing the transition for users coming from our biggest major competitor is a good thing. This is something we would not have with the proposed alternative Meta+WASD shortcuts.
  - **Logical**: Using the arrow keys makes sense for shortcuts related to spatial navigation. This is true of the proposed alternative Meta+WASD shortcuts, but using the WASD keys for spatial navigation is something familiar only to gamers as opposed to 100% of the computer-using population.
  - **Discoverable**: Not particularly discoverable because we do not have more than one VD by default and you need to dig through the KCM to find it. But this is the case for every shortcut. And it is rendered more discoverable by the fact that it uses the same shortcut as Windows and uses the arrow keys for a task related to spatial navigation. This would be untrue of the proposed alternative Meta+WASD shortcuts. I don't believe anyone would ever think of hitting the WASD keys while holding down the Meta key while trying to find the system's virtual desktop switching shortcuts.
  - **Ergonomic**: Meta+Ctrl+arrow is a two-handed shortcut which is indeed not ideal; the proposed alternative Meta+WASD shortcuts would be superior here. However given that we want to use the Meta key for global shortcuts, and given that most keyboards only have one Meta key on the left side, if we limit ourselves to only Meta+keys on the left side of the keyboard, then we have crippled ourselves by leaving half of the keyboard off-limits. This doesn't make sense to me, and therefore saying that it needs to be a one-handed keyboard shortcut no matter what also does not make sense to me.
  
  I don't have a dog in this fight: I don't use multiple virtual desktops and I don't care what the shortcut is personally, and I must admit that I do like the cleverness of the proposed Meta+WASD shortcuts, being familiar with that pattern from video games and having only a left Meta key on my keyboard.
  
  However I believe the above analysis clearly points to a winner, and it's the shortcuts that this patch implements.

REPOSITORY
  R108 KWin

REVISION DETAIL
  https://phabricator.kde.org/D24281

To: GB_2, #kwin, #plasma, #vdg, romangg, ngraham, davidedmundson
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