Bug 191751 - middle click to close tab in Konsole
Summary: middle click to close tab in Konsole
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Alias: None
Product: konsole
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: 2.2.2
Platform: unspecified Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Konsole Developer
URL:
Keywords:
: 271209 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2009-05-05 22:42 UTC by Dhaval Patel
Modified: 2015-08-07 17:55 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


Attachments
distance (3.78 KB, image/png)
2013-03-26 09:57 UTC, imraro
Details
attachment-16390-0.html (813 bytes, text/html)
2015-08-07 14:38 UTC, Oleksandr Sochka
Details

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Description Dhaval Patel 2009-05-05 22:42:48 UTC
Version:           2.2.2 (using 4.2.2 (KDE 4.2.2), Kubuntu packages)
Compiler:          cc
OS:                Linux (i686) release 2.6.28-11-generic

Can you please allow a middle click to close tabs in konsole? At the very least make it an option like you have in Konqueror.
Comment 1 Robert Knight 2009-05-06 12:31:06 UTC
I'm not in favor of Konsole-specific options for this.  You can have one behavior or the other in the application or a system-wide setting which can be reliably enforced.  I think at one point there was middle-click tab closing in Konsole but that upset users who preferred middle click to paste text into a tab.
Comment 2 Dhaval Patel 2009-05-06 16:20:22 UTC
Fine, then make it system wide. Konqueror already has that option, enable it for Konsole.

The reason I ask for this is because it existed before. 

The argument that this option was removed because users wanted middle click to paste does not make sense to me. There are several ways around this.

1. Make it an option (disabled by default) so people like me can enable middle click on a tab to close the tab.

2. Users can still middle click on the actual terminal to paste. I use it right now and find it very useful.
Comment 3 Amichai Rothman 2009-05-06 20:42:25 UTC
*** This bug has been confirmed by popular vote. ***
Comment 4 Matthew Woehlke 2009-06-01 22:50:10 UTC
> that upset users who preferred middle click to paste text into a tab

...and found themselves accidentally closing tabs ( -> data loss) instead all too often. See for example bug 170871. In short, the problem is that you *almost* don't have to pay attention to where you click in Konsole to paste. Except that you *do* have to pay attention, because if you hit a tab by accident, much profanity and other disgruntledness will follow.

I'm not opposed to making it somehow optional (either in Konsole, or globally), but I /am/ opposed to not being able to turn it off. (And I'm obviously not the only one, given the aforementioned bug.)
Comment 5 Robert Knight 2009-07-27 19:07:18 UTC
Resolving as WONTFIX because this is not compatible with 170871
Comment 6 Dhaval Patel 2009-07-27 19:16:39 UTC
So you will not even make it an option?
Comment 7 Robert Knight 2009-07-27 23:36:06 UTC
If someone cares to post a patch implementing an option to reviewboard.kde.org I will consider it.
Comment 8 Jekyll Wu 2011-08-17 01:22:39 UTC
*** Bug 271209 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 9 imraro 2013-03-26 05:55:40 UTC
Dolphin, Konqueror, Kmail, Firefox, Chromium have this option.
Comment 10 Jekyll Wu 2013-03-26 07:13:16 UTC
(In reply to comment #9)
> Dolphin, Konqueror, Kmail, Firefox, Chromium have this option.

And they have common properties: they are mostly dealing with static, persistent  and stateless objects. If you accidentally close a tab in your web browser or file manager, it almost never makes you lose anything except for a few seconds to reopen that tab. 

Konsole, as a terminal emulator, is dealing with totally different beasts: dynamic, non-persistent and stateful processes running within it. 

See https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=234756#c2 and  https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=234756#c5 for more why I am against similar ideas.
Comment 11 imraro 2013-03-26 07:36:52 UTC
For such cases, we have "Confirm Close" pop-up.
Comment 12 Jekyll Wu 2013-03-26 07:45:01 UTC
(In reply to comment #11)
> For such cases, we have "Confirm Close" pop-up.

Yes, and see https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=234756#c5 why that is not enough to feel safe
Comment 13 imraro 2013-03-26 08:26:47 UTC
I think that there is very little probability of accidentally hit а tab (224x26px) by middle click. There are more than likely things you can "accidentally" mess up the terminal.
Comment 14 Jekyll Wu 2013-03-26 09:38:11 UTC
(In reply to comment #13)
> I think that there is very little probability of accidentally hit а tab
> (224x26px) by middle click. There are more than likely things you can
> "accidentally" mess up the terminal.

Well, if you consider that konsole tabbar supports using mouse wheel to switch active tab and some users do like that feature/convenience and use it (I don't), then I don't think you would be that optimistic about the low probability of middle clicking by accident.

If a user accidentally messes up the terminal by running some stupid command, then it is his/her fault. But if he/she accidentally close the tab and loses important thing due to middle clicking feature, I guess he/she will blame the terminal emulator and come here with anger and screaming, just like those users in https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=335453 .

And to be honest, I don't like the "close tab" action in context menu either, with similar consideration.
Comment 15 imraro 2013-03-26 09:57:53 UTC
Created attachment 78393 [details]
distance
Comment 16 imraro 2013-03-26 10:05:35 UTC
Better chance to close the window and lose all tabs.

P.S.: Allways possible make it an option (disabled by default), because there will always be a certain number of users who do not like a particular function.
Comment 17 Dhaval Patel 2013-03-26 11:12:08 UTC
I guess the reason I am surprised is because KDE has always been proud of the fact that they offer options so that *each* user can use it the way he/she likes.

This used to be there and just got removed all of a sudden. If you wanted to be consistent, you should have offered an option to enable/disable it and not just remove a feature that a significant amount of people actually use.

At this point it is not a matter of getting the feature. For me, it is to make sure the Konsole team realizes that they are making decisions that are inconsistent with KDE (IMHO).
Comment 18 Oleksandr Sochka 2013-03-26 15:02:48 UTC
I agree with author that it could be a useful feature and just a couple of days ago I wrote a patch http://lists.kde.org/?l=konsole-devel&m=136364250817789&w=2 . This patch adds an option to the Konsole settings to allow close-on-middle-click. By default it's disabled, so no one who doesn't need it will be affected.
Comment 19 Oleksandr Sochka 2013-03-26 15:04:18 UTC
Patch is still not approved.
Comment 20 imraro 2013-03-26 15:07:45 UTC
 Robert Knight: "If someone cares to post a patch implementing an option to reviewboard.kde.org I will consider it."
Comment 21 Oleksandr Sochka 2013-03-26 15:09:11 UTC
http://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109571/ it's uploaded, site isn't working for some reasone now.
Comment 22 Jekyll Wu 2013-03-26 15:30:24 UTC
(In reply to comment #16)
> Better chance to close the window and lose all tabs.
> 
> P.S.: Allways possible make it an option (disabled by default), because
> there will always be a certain number of users who do not like a particular
> function.

And that is a good reason why by default konsole doesn't show that "close tab" button on the tabbar.  And may I remind you that when you try to close a window with multiple tabs, konsole will ask you for confirmation, and that confirmation, unlike the one for closing one tab with foreground process running, is always trustable.


(In reply to comment #17)
> I guess the reason I am surprised is because KDE has always been proud of
> the fact that they offer options so that *each* user can use it the way
> he/she likes.

Sorry, but that is just Utophia (never the truth) and you are attacking the strawman. Do you know what it means to allow, say 100 users, to use konsole in the exact way he/she wants? That would means hundreds, if not thousands, of options. And those are only 100 users, not millions of uses in the real world.
Konsole/KDE was never, and never will be, flexible enough to make *each* user use it the way he/she likes.
 
Ever since I start contributing to konsole, there are many options/features I have wanted to add but aborted. Why, because I need to also consider the increased complexity, maintenance burden and bugs.  Had I added all those options/features just to make myself happy, I'm afraid konsole now is in a broken and unmaintainable state. 

Options are good, but you don't add options to make everybody happy. That is destined to lead to failure.
. 
> not just remove a feature that a significant amount of people actually use.

If there are really many users who use and miss this feature, then please tell me why, after 4 years, this report only has three users (excluding Robert) in the CC list and only 40 votes from those users? And please do not tell me "because this report was closed long time ago so users can't see it".  Look bug  234756,  which requests similar feature and  has been open for 3 years: 3 users in the CC list and 0 votes.   It is really hard for me to believe there are many users missing this or that feature.


> At this point it is not a matter of getting the feature. For me, it is to
> make sure the Konsole team realizes that they are making decisions that are
> inconsistent with KDE (IMHO).

Consistency is good, but only when consistency makes sense and the underlying difference is not ignored and underestimated. I have explained that konsole is very different from file manager, web browser, document viewer, etc by nature in this field, so keeping consistent with them, just because we are all  KDE applications using tabbar,  is not really a convincing argument.  

And when it comes to consistency, the consistency with similar applications (terminal emulators) is much more important and convincing than consistency with browsers.  And please tell me which multi-tab terminal emulator has this "middle click closing" feature and is praised for it.
Comment 23 imraro 2013-03-26 15:46:53 UTC
>And that is a good reason why by default konsole doesn't show that "close tab" button on the tabbar. 
"by default"
>And may I remind you that when you try to close a window with multiple tabs, konsole will ask you for confirmation, and that confirmation, unlike the one for closing one tab with foreground process running, is always trustable.
My style doesn't ask me anything.
>And please tell me which multi-tab terminal emulator has this "middle click closing" feature and is praised for it.
Of those that I have used: Roxterm, gnome-terminal.
Comment 24 imraro 2013-03-26 15:54:37 UTC
Correction: My Konsole doesn't ask me anything.
Comment 25 Oleksandr Sochka 2013-03-26 17:06:58 UTC
Just in case you didn't see: I uploaded a patch a couple of days ago to enable this feature. I also think it has to be implemented. http://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109571/ .
Comment 26 imraro 2013-04-10 10:38:38 UTC
 Oleksandr Sochka, please vote for bug. It's like the problem is that developers do not see enough votes.
Comment 27 imraro 2013-04-10 10:41:10 UTC
Oleksandr, please vote for bug. It's like the problem is that developers do
not see enough votes.

On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 11:06 PM, Oleksandr Sochka
<sasha.sochka@gmail.com>wrote:

> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=191751
>
> --- Comment #25 from Oleksandr Sochka <sasha.sochka@gmail.com> ---
> Just in case you didn't see: I uploaded a patch a couple of days ago to
> enable
> this feature. I also think it has to be implemented.
> http://git.reviewboard.kde.org/r/109571/ .
>
> --
> You are receiving this mail because:
> You voted for the bug.
> You are on the CC list for the bug.
>
Comment 28 Oleksandr Sochka 2013-04-10 14:52:56 UTC
imraro, thanks, I didn't know about that button. Now I voted
Comment 29 imraro 2013-07-11 10:01:29 UTC
Well, patch is here and addsc only 64 lines and removes 16...  We have to wait Robert Knight?
Comment 30 imraro 2015-08-07 12:03:41 UTC
@Oleksandr can you provide patch updated against current master?
Comment 31 Oleksandr Sochka 2015-08-07 14:38:22 UTC
Created attachment 93932 [details]
attachment-16390-0.html

Sorry, not really, I don't have a chance to do this any time soon...
On Aug 7, 2015 5:03 AM, "imraro" <imraro@gmail.com> wrote:

> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=191751
>
> --- Comment #30 from imraro <imraro@gmail.com> ---
> @Oleksandr can you provide patch updated against current master?
>
> --
> You are receiving this mail because:
> You are on the CC list for the bug.
> You voted for the bug.
>
Comment 32 imraro 2015-08-07 17:55:13 UTC
@Oleksandr, thank you for quick answer!

Maybe someone of current Konsole devs is more 
Maybe someone from the current developers will be able to support the thesis what the KDE Manifesto says: "End-User Focus to ensure our work is useful to all people" ?