Bug 62157 - Multiple named sessions
Summary: Multiple named sessions
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Session Management (show other bugs)
Version: 5.27.5
Platform: Mandrake RPMs Linux
: HI wishlist
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Lubos Lunak
URL:
Keywords:
: 84384 92060 108218 116785 146254 199839 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2003-08-05 06:44 UTC by Alex Radu
Modified: 2023-05-17 18:34 UTC (History)
9 users (show)

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Description Alex Radu 2003-08-05 06:44:07 UTC
Version:           3.1.3 (using KDE KDE 3.1.3)
Installed from:    Mandrake RPMs
OS:          Linux

KDE's session support leaves a lot to be desired. Most importantly, when my desktop is saved I don't just want to have the same applications opened, I want to be in the same place as I was before in those applications like in Windows.

In addition, I should be able to save multiple sessions. Right now I can only save a session when I logout and load it when I get back. just like in a word processor you may  save and load different douments at any time. You don't just open it work on something save it and than are forced to work on the exact same thing each time. I want the same power with sessions. 

When a session is saved, it should and I need to emphasize this, REALLY save it,  all the control center options, all the applications, all the icons just the way it was when I saved it.

This feature would help me a lot. I would be able to havve a session saved called music, one called graphics, one web, etc. And I would load the appropriate session, with the appropriate applications,desktop look and feel etc.  as when I saved that session.

I really hope this feature can be implemented because it would be something no other desktop has acieved, not even Windows or OS X.
Comment 1 Thiago Macieira 2003-08-05 12:29:54 UTC
Just addressing the part of windows not showing in the right places: 
sometimes, it's not KDE's fault that applications do not restore themselves to 
the right place where they should have. KDE applications are supposed to 
and, if they don't, you can bug their maintainers. 
 
Also note that session support is application-specific. Not all applications 
support session saving (KDE applications are supposed to) and some may not 
support multiple session saving (again, KDE applications are supposed to as 
well). If your applications are bugging you with these items, report to each 
application's maintainers. 
 
For your Control Center request, please note that they are mostly global 
configurations, not session options. You could file a wishlist report requesting 
some options be kept per session, but I highly doubt it'll get implemented 
(mainly because sessions are generally ephemerous while settings are 
permanent). 
Comment 2 Krishna Sethuraman 2004-07-08 23:54:13 UTC
Reminds me of the 'Memento' 'design pattern'.
Comment 3 Lubos Lunak 2004-11-25 18:45:22 UTC
*** Bug 92060 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 4 Lubos Lunak 2005-03-25 12:22:52 UTC
*** Bug 84384 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 Adam 2005-03-25 17:41:01 UTC
Something similar to this is hibernate.  If you can turn off your computer and restore the contents of the RAM later (which you can in Linux, though I heard it's not super stable), it's perhaps better, and certainly much easier to implement, than session saving, *for desktops being used by a single user*.  When you have multiple users logging in and out, you do in fact need something better.

I wonder, though, whether it's really practical to have KDE do complete session saving.  If it's up to the application to implement it, then it certainly can't work well for non-KDE applications, which are a good chunk of the worthwhile free applications out there.  If KDE becomes the dominant desktop on Linux, then maybe it's a good idea; but even then, cross-platform applications might not be willing to add Linux-specific session management support.

My idea, though I don't know whether it would work, is to have a system-wide hibernate-like feature for when users log on and log off.  The program would save the state (memory contents) of all running programs *that were started from that login process* when the user logs off, and reload them when (s)he logs back on.  This way you'd have reliable, simple to implement session-management which isn't KDE or even GUI-specific.  If there are no problems with this idea (I suspect there are), then I'd say there's no point in improving KDE's session management.
Comment 6 Christian Loose 2005-06-28 09:21:10 UTC
*** Bug 108218 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 7 Lubos Lunak 2005-11-30 17:55:17 UTC
*** Bug 116785 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 8 William Entriken 2006-09-08 06:23:33 UTC
i have implemented AppGroups, a way to save several several apps that you can save/restore just like a session, but you can have as many open as you want.

it lives in work/kdebase_appgroups and I am working to make it stable enough to merge in

:-)
Comment 9 Hauke Laging 2006-12-26 13:24:41 UTC
@#8

AppGroups seems to be what I was just going to put on the wish list :-)  I think that's just a wrapper around the normal session handling, the app shouldn't even notice, right?

This feature should include the possibility to save several sessions of an application. The context menu should be extended (in case there is at least one saved session for that app) by a submenu "open as sassion A, B, C...". And there should be a "save as session <enter name>" pull down menu when you keep the close button pressed for a second (or with a control key).
Comment 10 Hauke Laging 2006-12-26 13:48:43 UTC
I would like to comment on a duplicate of this bug which seems to cover something slightly different:
http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=108218

Such a feature might be helpful in case KDE crashes or hangs at startup due to an app with a corrupted configuration. I think it's important to allow the user an easy reset/fallback to a working state at every level of IT. In this respect this feature would accomplish a similar goal like this one (by me):
http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=70288
Comment 11 Lubos Lunak 2007-06-04 11:22:15 UTC
*** Bug 146254 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 12 William Entriken 2010-08-26 21:19:57 UTC
Hello, I have technical notes about this bug listed at http://fulldecent.blogspot.com/2010/08/technical-notes-about-kde-ksmserver.html from my original attempt to fix it.
Comment 13 Nate Graham 2020-09-29 03:48:01 UTC
*** Bug 199839 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***