Resizing borders too thin

That’s the key, which comes from using a theme based on the one used by Unity, which (only) compiz. I prefer the small border look, but it’s not ideal with Marco.

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I use Alt + right click on the mouse when i start to struggle to find the the good place
I have read it here in the forum and now i use it almost always as it allows you to resize without searching a pixel (you can resize even from the middle of the window (Alt+ right click and and arrow appear = just drag while you are still on the Alt and right click).

There is a space in the window where you have a lot more pixels than the 1 usual pixel without using any tips given here, just a pure mouse hover and click => it’s the top right corner (or top left depending the theme, i am using Cuppertino with the button on the left(Mac style) so the top righ is buttons free).
Put your mouse on the top right(or left) corner and you will see an arrow appear quite quickly without struggling seaching for a pixel.

Having said that, I am like every one… why? okay now i have to use it, but, I mean the UM beginner arrive and do not know about the Alt+ right click or other tips given above… Little things like that can disappoint the new user. OK it’s Easy to say “why” => But UM is a lovely distro! I “tried” few distros before my switch and it’s now more than a year and a half i’m sticking with UM and not seeking for something else :wink:

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To address the original concern, I’ve been working on increasing the resize borders for a while now, but it’s not quite trivial. It takes a fair amount of work to update the entire window manager ui theme system to take resize borders into account. I’ve gotten them to work properly, but it causes all sorts of nasty display issues.

Based on where I’m at with it, I’ve considered ditching my efforts and start again from scratch to see how far I get this time around.

In either case, this is a pretty complex problem to solve in marco :confused:

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Thanks for your efforts. In the meantime, it may be worth just supplying 1 or 2 themes named “xxx-Marco”, like “My-Theme-Dark-Marco”, which is the same as some popular “My-Theme-Dark” theme, but just has bigger borders. And make it the default if you install Ubuntu MATE. It is a stop gap solution, but it would be good enough for most users. At least compared to the current situation: do a default installation, and the realise you cannot resize windows the normal way.

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Just remember, Windows is not the benchmark by which every other OS needs to be judged, therefore there is no prerequisite for every OS to behave identically to Windows.

Due to the fact that Linux is not Windows, the next time someone asks about resizing windows, simply show them [Alt] and [Right Click] + drag in the direction you want the window to be resized to. It’s not in any way hard.

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It is if you’re disabled. GNOME’s decision to wreck grabable borders is a significant accessibility issue.

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No it’s not. If that’s the situation, right click on the top bar of the window and select ‘resize’.

Gnome no longer develop MATE.

I think if you (@vkareh) can solve this, plus with the compositing stuff you’ve done, they should rename Marco to Victor :wink:

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LOL!

I’ve considered writing a new window manager and calling it Polo as a joke. But the truth is that Marco doesn’t refer to the name, it just means Frame in Spanish (as in window frame).

Either way, Victor WM has a nice ring to it :wink:

I actually didn’t know about the Alt+Mouse trick, meaning I’ve generally been avoiding resizing windows too much :sweat_smile:. I prefer working full-screen and using workspaces anyways.
Thanks for teaching me something new!

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I assume you want as many people as possible to enjoy MATE. In that case, your attitude is counterproductive. You do not half-bake a window resizing feature that looks like everybody else’s (not just Windows), so that it is hard to use, and at the same time expect people to like your system. Instead of learning your ways, people will just sneer at you.

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I never really noticed this issue until I saw your post! I guess it didn’t/doesn’t bother me very much, but I’d like to put it out there that this IS an issue, and it’d be swell not to have it someday.:slight_smile:

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It’s not half baked at all, that’s how Ubuntu Mate operates.

As stated, this is an OS unto itself. There is no prerequisite for Ubuntu MATE to act identically to any other OS out there.

[Alt]+[Right Click]+Drag = Resize window. It’s the way it’s always been. If you’re impaired, there’s a handy menu allowing you to do the same thing.

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If you have multiple ways of resizing then both should work.
Assuming Alt+RightClick+Drag was really supposed the only way UM should allow you to resize then one might as well throw out window border resizing completely … but if it is not, then window border resizing should be easy to use.

“Being different for the sake of being different” isn’t a compelling argument in my book, especially considering how insanely customizable UM is in so many other ways - with Windows-, Mac- and Unity-lookalike layouts, for example.

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You’re forgetting about touchpad/clickpad users, laptop users. Alt + right click isn’t easy on such device. MATE’s default theme Menta has comfortable borders, Xfce’s default too.

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I find it interesting how the addition of the [Alt] button makes things impossible. As a laptop user I don’t find pressing the [Alt] button in combination with a right click in any way difficult. It’s the addition of ‘one button’.

I also find it interesting how it’s assumed it’s an ‘issue’ with the DM. You honestly don’t think the developers of the MATE DM wouldn’t have made sure windows resizing didn’t work exactly as they wanted it to?

Personally, I don’t like the way Windows 10 is a mishmash of touch and desktop UI, I want my desktop/laptop to run a desktop oriented OS. But, that’s how Windows 10 is and hence I don’t use it.

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I find it interesting how the addition of the [Alt] button makes things
impossible. As a laptop user I don’t find pressing the [Alt] button in
combination with a right click in any way difficult. It’s the addition
of ‘one button’.

Depending on the physical layout of your touchpad, that can get hairy
indeed.

Some Thinkpads have buttons above the touchpad. Others below it.
Sometimes the buttons are integrated on the bottom part of the touchpad,
and pressing it down moves the mouse cursor slightly, so you miss the
window frame you were pointing at. At other times, holding the right
button with your thumb does not let you use the upper left part of the
touchpad, because your other fingers are not long enough.

When you drag a border, you have to keep a button down. On my touchpad,
I often use one hand to keep a button down, and another hand to move the
cursor. Adding the Alt key makes it hard, because it’s too far away for
the one hand holding the touchpad button.

I also find it interesting how it’s assumed it’s an ‘issue’ with the DM.
You honestly don’t think the developers of the MATE DM wouldn’t have
made sure windows resizing didn’t work exactly as they wanted it to?

I do not understand why you continue to dismiss this issue. It is very
simple and clear. Most users are used to other systems. It is rather
intuitive for many people to drag a window border. It is actually
implemented in MATE. But the default border width in Ubuntu MATE is too
thin. Surely you can see why that bugs lots of people, for it is a clear
usability issue. It has been discussed many times. You said you do not
like how Windows 10 is implemented, so you do not use it. The same will
happen to MATE if you keep bugging the rest of the world.

If you could not resize windows by dragging the border at all, you would
force people to learn the “new” way. With this approach, it would not be
so obvious that border resizing is half broken. But forcing people to
learn new ways is not a good strategy for success. Besides, CAD/CAM
users may want Alt+mouse dragging for other uses, like rotating 3D
models, so they may prefer to keep border resizing. I myself find it
convenient for virtual machines, because Alt+Dragging tends to get
intercepted by the host.

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Personally, I like using [Alt] + [Right Click] to resize a window. It means I don’t have to find that one spot on the corner of the Window like under Windows that allows me to drag out on an angle, bottom right, for example. I just smash [alt], right click wherever in the window and drag in the direction I want to resize.

Furthermore, the point you seem to be missing, is that there’s a handy menu that allows you to do the same thing without using [alt].

The issue isn’t that most people are used to other systems, the issue is that people want a clone of proprietary operating systems as they assume that’s the correct way of doing things - The problem is, there is no correct way of doing things and everything is different. If you’d used the [alt] and [right click] method all your life, you’d have nothing to complain about.

If Windows users choose not to adopt MATE due to an inability to see past Windows, that’s not really my problem and I honestly believe such users are probably better off sticking to what they’re comfortable with as opposed to expecting everything to conform to what they expect. Especially when it’s been working fine for many years now.

But honestly, I highly doubt most people will really have an issue using [alt] and [right click]. As stated, it’s quite handy being able to resize from any point within the window just by using [alt] as a modifier to the usual right click to resize.

Please do not confuse the “correct” way of doing things with the “familiar” way of doing this, because that’s what this is for most people.

Besides, no one wants to take away the keyboard shortcut, if you prefer to use that one.

You can in fact have this particular cake and eat it, too… :wink:

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Familiarity is something learnt over time. When it comes to adopting a new OS that isn’t Windows there will be some form of adaption and learning curve involved, the same sort of learning curve you would experience if you used the MATE DM all your life and only just switched to Windows.

As stated earlier, there is no correct way of doing things.