In GNOME 3, we removed an option which got GNOME users hot under the collar (and gave the opportunity to the ones who weren't something to troll about): we removed the configuration option to select what happens when you close your laptop lid.
We started digging, and found out that the main reason for people wanting this feature was so that they could go from a table to another in the coffee shop, from their desk to the meeting room in the office, or a table to the next in the library, with the laptop lid closed, and your internet connection still on-going.
In that case, what's really needed is a way to disable suspending when you're moving the laptop. But having to dig in the settings would take too long anyway. And, apart from a number of tethered ones, users would live happily without that ability, so we wouldn't be adding this in the gnome-shell UI itself.
Let's add the button in a separate application. A single button isn't too interesting though. Let's make this more interesting!
Office Runner!
Testimonials
- “this is the best thing ever”
- “the most creative way I've heard of to solve a power management bug in a while”
- “I expect people to spill their coffees over this”
What now?
The code is available in
GNOME git, and we're just waiting to knock a few TODO items, and get a UI review before releasing the first version. Patches welcome. Enjoy!
