Bug 486862

Summary:	Window should be always on top
Product:	[Applications] plasma-systemmonitor	Reporter:	iodreamify
Component:	general	Assignee:	KSysGuard Developers <ksysguard-bugs>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	ahiemstra, plasma-bugs-null
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.0.4
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Arch Linux
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description iodreamify 2024-05-10 17:28:59 UTC

SUMMARY
In my opinion the initial system monitor window that spawns should be displayed always on top above any other window so it's always accessible when you need it. I've had situations where frozen applications stopped rendering and responding which i wanted to kill but because they had "keep above other windows" the Plasma system monitor couldn't be displayed. I don't know how other OSes do this but please consider having this on by default(not as an optional kwin window rule) and maybe as a settings option to disable it. Perhaps even as a priority above other "keep above others" windows but i'm not sure if kwin has such priority lists. 

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Have a maximized window with "keep above others" set
2. Open Plasma system monitor with "keep above others" on its window not initially set

OBSERVED RESULT
Plasma system monitor can't be accessed even with alt-tab without first removing "keep above others" on the other window  

EXPECTED RESULT
Plasma system monitor takes priority and is displayed immediately 

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.1.0
Qt Version: 6.7.0
Kernel Version: 6.8.9-arch1-2 (64-bit)

Comment 1 Arjen Hiemstra 2024-05-30 10:06:55 UTC

It is not possible for an application on Wayland to set that state and I don't want to introduce differences in behaviour between Wayland and X11. If you want it always on top you can add a KWin window rule to enforce that.

Comment 2 iodreamify 2024-05-30 15:33:59 UTC

(In reply to Arjen Hiemstra from comment #1)
> It is not possible for an application on Wayland to set that state and I
> don't want to introduce differences in behaviour between Wayland and X11. If
> you want it always on top you can add a KWin window rule to enforce that.

I understand that this could be impossible to implement for now, especially on Wayland, but could this bug report at least stay open rather than closed completely? 

I really feel like the task manager is one of those areas that are inferior on Linux compared to something like Windows because regular users could not even access it if they get into a situation like i described in this post and good software should support not just power users.