Linux Desktop: Do we need better Workspace Management?

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COSMIC DE has attempted to add itself to this category with Pinned Workspaces. I have a Fedora COSMIC spin, that I installed months ago and when I attempted to use this feature, it seemed to be buggy.

I am doing an upgrade right now to see if this has improved. I saw on Gemini that we should be able to preset the workspaces in a script.

I am going to test this out on the latest version shortly.

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Would love to see screenshots of this. :slight_smile:

I saw on Gemini that we should be able to preset the workspaces in a script.

Cool. So similar to Sway and other tilers then.

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While I wait for the update to finish, I looked at the KDE Plasma virtual desktops, and I was disappointed.

So according to Gemini, the way it works is you have to be on a specific monitor. Plasma detects that by where the mouse is. Then you can select the particular desktop on that monitor. :face_with_raised_eyebrow: So that is not quite ready yet.

Here is a screen shot from the author of the feature.

This is from [Bug Fix] Per-screen virtual desktops - #81 by greatquux - Sponsored Work - KDE Discuss.

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image796×538 88.6 KB

So after updating to Fedora 44 and COSMIC DE 1.8, sorry to say that Pinned Workspaces is not it, as well.

First, COSMIC DE’s model is to use Dynamic Workspaces. This is similar to Gnome’s concept. If a workspace is empty, delete it. Pinned Workspaces also adapts this concept. The main reason to pin a workspace is to prevent it from deleting, but it doesn’t prevent it from moving in the queue.

So my test was simple. Pin workspace 1, which creates workspace 2. Repeat until I have 4 pinned workspaces with the 5th one empty. Unpin workspace 1 and 2. Workspaces 3 and 4 then shift into workspace 1 and 2.

Now there is a third party CLI called cos-cli which allows you to create all the pinned workspaces using a script. However once a dynamic workspace is removed, all other pinned workspaces shift. And this can create a bug. If Workspace 5 is no longer there, and you attempted to shift an application to that Workspace, the DE can then place that application in any random space.

And since cos-cli is created by a third party developer, it means if System 76 changes an API cos-cli can potentially break leaving your pinned workspaces no longer functional.

So in summary, KDE and COSMIC still don’t meet the needs.

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