[Bug 947008] Re: update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu if xubuntu-desktop is installed

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

** Description changed:

  update-notifier 0.118.1ubuntu1, apport 1.93-0ubuntu2, Ubuntu 12.04 beta
  1
  
  1. Install xubuntu-desktop (for example, for someone else to use on the same computer).
  2. Log in to a Unity session.
  3. Trigger a crash (e.g. at a terminal, "sh -c 'kill -SEGV $$'").
  4. Wait for software updates to become available.
  
  What happens:
  3. A red explosion menu appears, and a notification bubble saying "An application has crashed on your system (now or in the past). Click on the notification icon to display details."
  4. An orange starburst menu appears, with miscapitalized items "Show updates", "Install all updates", etc.
  
  What's wrong with this:
  * There's no point in showing a menu that contains only an item to open an alert box, instead of just opening the alert box.
  * No, it wasn't an application that crashed, it was a terminal command.
  * "(now or in the past)" is awkward.
  * "Click on the notification icon"? What's a "notification icon"?
  * We know that a tiny orange starburst isn't enough to get people to install updates promptly.
  * It doesn't follow the design specification in either case.
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ErrorTracker#error>
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdates#Launching_automatically>
  
  This bug has two causes. First, there exists a dconf key com.ubuntu
  .update-notifier.auto-launch, and update-notifier goes off the
  reservation if the key is set to false. And second, xubuntu-desktop
  installs a /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/20_xubuntu-default-
  settings.gschema.override that sets auto-launch=false, even if you
  aren't using a Xubuntu session yourself.
  
  This is an example of the cost of implementing settings that shouldn't
  exist. Dealing with errors, showing updates, installing updates, and
  accessing the update settings are all the same number of clicks from the
  respective dialog as they are from the menus, if any other windows are
  in front of the dialog when it opens, or even fewer clicks if no windows
  are in front of it.
  
  The indicator menus and the com.ubuntu.update-notifier.auto-launch
  setting should be removed. If the Xubuntu developers want different
  behavior, they should implement their own notifier. Fixing this would
- also resolve bug 249367, bug 263513, bug 752017, and bug 891421.
+ also resolve bug 249367, bug 263513, bug 280387, bug 322238, bug 752017,
+ bug 891421, bug 906826, bug 917200, and bug 934517; and probably also
+ bug 414202, bug 654553, and bug 987202.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/947008

Title:
  update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu if xubuntu-
  desktop is installed

Status in “update-notifier” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  update-notifier 0.118.1ubuntu1, apport 1.93-0ubuntu2, Ubuntu 12.04
  beta 1

  1. Install xubuntu-desktop (for example, for someone else to use on the same computer).
  2. Log in to a Unity session.
  3. Trigger a crash (e.g. at a terminal, "sh -c 'kill -SEGV $$'").
  4. Wait for software updates to become available.

  What happens:
  3. A red explosion menu appears, and a notification bubble saying "An application has crashed on your system (now or in the past). Click on the notification icon to display details."
  4. An orange starburst menu appears, with miscapitalized items "Show updates", "Install all updates", etc.

  What's wrong with this:
  * There's no point in showing a menu that contains only an item to open an alert box, instead of just opening the alert box.
  * No, it wasn't an application that crashed, it was a terminal command.
  * "(now or in the past)" is awkward.
  * "Click on the notification icon"? What's a "notification icon"?
  * We know that a tiny orange starburst isn't enough to get people to install updates promptly.
  * It doesn't follow the design specification in either case.
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ErrorTracker#error>
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdates#Launching_automatically>

  This bug has two causes. First, there exists a dconf key com.ubuntu
  .update-notifier.auto-launch, and update-notifier goes off the
  reservation if the key is set to false. And second, xubuntu-desktop
  installs a /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/20_xubuntu-default-
  settings.gschema.override that sets auto-launch=false, even if you
  aren't using a Xubuntu session yourself.

  This is an example of the cost of implementing settings that shouldn't
  exist. Dealing with errors, showing updates, installing updates, and
  accessing the update settings are all the same number of clicks from
  the respective dialog as they are from the menus, if any other windows
  are in front of the dialog when it opens, or even fewer clicks if no
  windows are in front of it.

  The indicator menus and the com.ubuntu.update-notifier.auto-launch
  setting should be removed. If the Xubuntu developers want different
  behavior, they should implement their own notifier. Fixing this would
  also resolve bug 249367, bug 263513, bug 280387, bug 322238, bug
  752017, bug 891421, bug 906826, bug 917200, and bug 934517; and
  probably also bug 414202, bug 654553, and bug 987202.

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