Version: (using KDE KDE 3.2.2) Installed from: Debian testing/unstable Packages Compiler: gcc version 3.3.3 (Debian 20040401) OS: Linux If I go kstart --desktop 4 --activate kmail --check to have kmail check for any new mail, kmail will do its thing okay, but if I subsequently try to open a new window in some other application in a different desktop, that new window will also appear in desktop 4. I would expect to see the other application open any new windows in the same desktop that it is sitting in itself. I first reported this as Debian bug #230833, http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=230833 but what a horrible bug report I wrote there... :-) I thought that it might be Debian-specific, but now I've tested on RHEL3, with KDE 3.2.2 RPMs, and it was there too. To add some more details on what I'm seeing: I've bound this command to a key on my keyboard, so I use it to tell KMail to check mail. If, for example, I hit the key to check my mail, read whatever message comes in and then go to Firebird and open a Find widget to search in a page, that Find box will open in Desktop 4, and I must manually move it to the Desktop I keep my Firebird in for it to be usable. Actually, I started using Konqi after 3.2, it's just an example, it will affect KDE and non-KDE applications equally. It also affects new applications launched from e.g. Kicker. It is unclear to me what role --window plays in this. My interpretation of what --help is saying is that the option is not recommended, but I may have misunderstood this completely. But since it does correctly give KMail focus and correctly tells it to check mail, surely, it can't be relevant?
No, in fact it's not recommended to omit the --window option, and that's why you have the problem.
Huh? But I mean, the docs say: --window <regexp> A regular expression matching the window title. If you do not specify one, then the very first window to appear will be taken. NOT RECOMMENDED! I'm not a native English speaker (but I guess I'm representative for a sizeable audience), but as far as I can see, it can't be interpreted any other way that one is strongly discouraged from using the --window option... Now, AFAICS (still not native English), the "NOT RECOMMENDED" sentence doesn't really parse... :-) It lacks a subject, i.e. it doesn't answer the question "what is not recommended?" If it isn't recommended to omit it, it should say that: "This option is strongly recommended" would be a lot clearer. I hope you can clarify. Should this be in a separate bug?
I read it as "--window option is this and that. If you don't specify it, it'll do that. It's not recommended not to specify it", but you're probably right about it being a bit unclear, I'll change it.