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Idea #11479: Shutdown

bug This idea is a duplicate of Idea #29: Smooth shutdown experience.
Written by vexorian the 24 Jul 08 at 14:14. Related project: Gnome. Status: New
Rationale
A lot of polish needed during shutdown / log out.

Very likely event during ubuntu usage:
- You click the button in the top of the screen. Then you do restart/power off/log out. But one of your apps has a document open.

What should happen:
- The app creates a notify dialog, the app's taskbar button appears in the taskbar and begins to flash, you click the button, the application goes visible and you can click "No, I don't want to save the file that's the reason I pressed power off without handling this file first", shutdown continues.

What happens now:

- After the app creates the dialog,

Problem A:
The app's button flashes. You try to click the button, but it doesn't respond. gnome-panel has gotten unresponsive after you started the shutdown procedure. You need to guess that ALT+TAB is your only way to exit. If you do nothing, it will never shut down and gnome-panel will remain unresponsive, which will probably make your life harder.

Problem B.
The app is in another desktop. So, this time the button does not even appear in the taskbar. Good luck finding out you got an app in another desktop blocking the shutdown process . If you find out, you cannot switch to the other desktop, because... gnome-panel doesn't respond anymore. My solution to this is CTROL+ALT+BACKSPACE, I wish a new user good luck finding that out.

Conclusions:
- gnome-panel should be the last app to die during a shutdown sequence, it should wait for all other apps to be closedm then quit. It should also stay responsive. I think the gnome panel currently waits for all applications to be closed, but it doesn't allow another thread to take care of clicks passed to the panel, this is bad.
- If an app "flashes" its taskbar button while it is in another desktop, the button should appear in the current desktop. I think I've seen this happen with some apps, it should somehow happen with all the apps. The taskbar already knows the app is "flashing", so this is also an issue with gnome-panel.



Tags: shutdown

268
votes
closed
Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #11479
Written by vexorian the 24 Jul 08 at 14:14.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #11479 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

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Duplicates


Comments
nsanz wrote on the 24 Jul 08 at 18:04
it seems that this is a bug, report this in launchpad

Breakable wrote on the 25 Jul 08 at 12:49
I would propose a more radical solution:
1)Have a versioning file system on the hard drive, that allows to see all versions of a file.
2)Make applications in gnome always save when shutting down.
3)Make sure you have enough free space when editing a file.

jrusinek wrote on the 26 Jul 08 at 16:01
the last app that needs to be closed is the window manager.

you ask why: for eye candy (eg. compiz fades out, nautilus quits and then compiz quits, making eye candy on the screen).

dino wrote on the 26 Jul 08 at 16:03
fully agree. +1

just a note:
"CTROL+ALT+BACKSPACE" ... how about moving to the other desktop with keyboard shortcuts like strg+left?

wolfie2x wrote on the 27 Jul 08 at 05:47
I agree with nsanz, this is definitely a behavioral bug.

I don't think Breakable's radical idea is worth the trouble; It introduces a lot of complexity which in tern translates to more quirks. better keep it simple.


Bender2k14 wrote on the 28 Jul 08 at 19:25
@vexorian

Have you submitted this as a bug in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/)?

If so, use the "[Attach a bug]" link above to link to that bug report.

textureglitch wrote on the 15 Aug 08 at 21:08
This is a terrible idea. If an application hangs this means that your computer will never shut down.

The default text editor in Ubuntu exhibits this behavior and it is incredibly annoying, especially on laptops.

When I click the Shutdown button, it's because I want to shut down, not because I want to be reminded to save all the stuff I've got running on the desktop.

On my laptop I always click Shutdown and then close the lid while the programs take their time closing down, which means that if I don't remember to close that annoying text editor first, the next time I open the lid I'm greeted by its dialog box and realize that my laptop has been running all this time and never shut down.

It is very inconvenient to have to sit and watch the entire shutdown procedure on a slow laptop every time, just to make sure it's actually behaving the way you want it to.

Linus wrote on the 19 Aug 08 at 20:13
I would like to have a dialog that pops up with a list of unsaved things >with a timeout!

vexorian wrote on the 21 Sep 08 at 01:25
Why on earth was this market a duplicate to that idea? It is not related at all. Please brainstorm admins, read the ideas and not just the titles before marking stuff as duplicate.

"This is a terrible idea" : textureglitch, please take the time to read an idea before commenting on it. I am suggesting to do something to prevent an issue that causes the shutdown not to happen at all, something that you apparently you do not like either.



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