So, I think cosmic apps should support whatever the global menu protocol is called, and have the top bar be ssd. The ssd would use the global menu protocol to add the already existing menu bar to the titlebar.
This would have quite a few benefits, including
- Making every third party app with a menu bar look more native, with them getting a COSMIC-style titlebar.
- Making COSMIC apps integrate nicer with other desktops, especially for people who use a mac-style global menu.
- A more unified and flexible desktop experience overall.
Obvious problems being what to do with other buttons in titlebars(I propose to just move them to wherever else would make sense) and what to do on desktops with no server side decorations like GNOME. Also, on other desktops that have ssd, but don’t put the global menu anywhere, there would have to be a more classic, less elegant menu bar.
This proposal definitely has downsides, but I think it’d be a definite improvement and align with COSMIC’s philosphy, so tell me what you all think!
Also, if any system76 employees are reading this, pretty please 🥺 ?
Of course server side decorations are better, why is there even a debate?
From a user perspective I don’t understand how wasting a bunch of screen space on an ugly, non-functional bar across every window is better. I get that from a software development perspective it’s basically one less thing to deal with. But I absolutely prefer to have a functional use for the space.
The title bars in KDE felt so antiquated, especially for such a foundational thing. For a while I removed the title bars and used a “move window” key and minimize/maximize/close shortcuts.
Eventually I just switched to Gnome.
Simply because other people disagree.
It’s mostly devs like csd better, because they “can express themselves” and users like ssd better, because it’s not inconsistent and can be themed by them. In short, csd sucks for users.
I’m going to provide the counter opinion here: I prefer CSD. SSD gives you a consistent title bar across applications, but it can cause a wildly inconsistent look within a single app. Part of the application is being themed by a different piece of software that doesn’t know anything about it.
I also like apps being able to make use of some of the extra space in the titlebar if they want to.
Uh, yeah, because the titlebar isn’t part of the app but of the wm. And i like the Adapta titlebar better to the Materia theme, no i didn’t ask about the developers opinion. You, as a developer, make a User Interface, not a piece of art, keep that in mind.