Bug#744249: libgtk-3-0: gtk 3.12 breaks usability by forcing client side decorations on X11

[Vlad Orlov]

Hi,

> Not sure why you asked that, as I wasn't claiming that Abiword, Transmission or
> Gnumeric were using CSD with 3.14.0, just the opposite. Perhaps I wasn't 
> clear enough about it.

I guess I misunderstood this part. I thought you meant that the main windows of
these apps were using CSD (headerbars and stuff) and that the patch fixed it.


> Screenshot of gnome-calculator, Gtk+ 3.14.0 CSD disabled with my patch:
> 
> http://tnsp.org/~ccr/gtk3/gnome-calc-with_csd_disable.png
> 
> Plain Gtk+ 3.14.0 without patch:
> 
> http://tnsp.org/~ccr/gtk3/gnome-calc-no_csd_disable.png

Ok, I see. I have the same behavior.

The only issue is that gnome-calculator is missing the menu to change the mode
(basic/advanced/financial/programming) when CSD is off.
As I understand it, gnome-calculator itself needs to be patched to fix that. Ubuntu
already has unity_classic_menubar.patch that brings back the usual mode select
menu. Unfortunately, this patch is for gnome-calculator 3.10.x and doesn't apply
cleanly to 3.14.x.

The same issue is seen in gthumb, devhelp and totem. Basically, this patch kills
the main window's headerbar which has all the application-specific controls (menu
buttons, etc.), leaving the user without any way to change application preferences,
open files, etc.

I'm attaching the screenshots with these three apps with CSD on and off.

The only control that's not killed is totem's main menu - it changes to some kind of
"fallback menu" (same as in gnome-calculator). IIRC this "fallback menu" is GTK+
feature, though I'm not sure.

I'm afraid that these apps need to be patched to provide the classic menu, just like
it has been done for gnome-calculator in Ubuntu...

Ideally, I'd like to find a way to make a "smart" patch for GTK+, the patch that will
intercept the creation of the headerbar items (buttons) and create the classic menu
and its items instead. Then there won't be a need to patch every single application.

I understand that it might be very well impossible though.
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