Bug 481155

Summary:	Option to disable cascading behavior with Centered window placement
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	evanmohr22
Component:	general	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	isma.af, nate
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	master
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Fedora RPMs
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description evanmohr22 2024-02-10 04:20:05 UTC

SUMMARY
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STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Have an empty workspace
2. Open a dolphin window
3. Open several more dolphin windows

OBSERVED RESULT
Even with window placement set to centered, additional windows aren't actually centered. That's because Plasma has a feature to offset windows so that the titlebar are always visible. See: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=58063. In some cases this cascading can make new windows appear far away from the center of the screen.

EXPECTED RESULT
I would expect for the windows to be completely overlapping. Note that I'm not suggesting to replace the current mode, rather I think there should be an additional toggle (enabled by default) called something like "Avoid obscuring title bar".

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Plasma 6 RC2
(available in About System)
KDE Plasma Version: 
KDE Frameworks Version: 
Qt Version: 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2024-02-14 22:07:45 UTC

But why? What's the benefit of having new windows completely overlap old ones such that you can't see them anymore? What's the use case?

Comment 2 evanmohr22 2024-02-14 22:31:06 UTC

To have complete consistency. If I opened two small windows in a row, I wouldn't leave them overlapping. I would manually move them to avoid the overlapping. The only advantage the smart placement has (for me) is that it would give me the choice to move the lower window first rather than the window on top. But I would prefer the consistency of always having windows open dead center (of the portion of the screen without panels) over that choice.

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2024-02-14 22:35:29 UTC

Thanks for the explanation. Based on that explanation, it seems like you would like to do manually what the cascading feature does automatically. However, the entire point of the feature is to save you from having to! :) As such, I'm afraid your definition of consistency differs a bit from that of the KWin dev team, so I don't think we'll be able to implement the request, sorry! But thanks for getting in touch anyway.