Using alt-key clicks on linux

[Richard Gaskin]

hh wrote:

 >> Richard Gaskin wrote (in thread 'nice Sierra feature'):
 >>> Mark Wieder wrote:
 >>> On linux you can alt-click to grab and move a window.
 >>
 >> ... which is both great and horrible.
 >> It's handy, of course, but it also means not being able to rely on
 >> Alt-click in our UIs.
 >> In many cases I've migrated some Alt-click functionality to Shift-
 >> click, but it's nice to have both mod keys available, and some things
 >> make more semantic sense with Alt rather than Shift.
 >
 > Because this is so important for a lot of Mac/Win/linux stacks,
 > especially linux-RaspberryPi, I use it there often (and let user's
 > know in the help):
 >
 > [1]
 > *** alt-mouseDown does NOT come through to LC.
 >
 > [2]
 > *** alt-mouseUp works:
 > *** You have to FIRST click the object, THEN -- while the mouse is
 > down --
 > *** hold the altKey down.
 >
 > (Usually nearly everybody uses the reverse order: first the key then
 > the click).
 > *** So one could say, "alt-click" on linux should be done as
 > "click-alt" ***

Or more specifically, clickdown-hold-alt-clickrelease, which is so 
unusual that I wouldn't expect to be able to explain it to end-users.

This behavior can be turned off with Compiz Config, dconf Editor, and 
other such tools, but in a world where ~80 of users never alter 
preference settings I wouldn't rely on it.

Personally, it seems a bit heavy-handed of the Gnome team to block a 
modifier key so sweepingly.  I may see about submitting an enhancement 
request to them to change that from Alt-click to Alt-rightclick, which 
seems far better given how broadly the Alt key us used on other 
platforms and how relatively seldom it's used for moving windows in 
Gnome-base desktop environments.

But in the meantime, supporting Linux GUIs means dealing with Gnome 
decisions, so the Alt-click is not easily available for most apps.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com