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KDE Goes and Does It (Double-Click By Default, That Is) - OMG! Linux

  • KDE Plasma 6 will require users to double-click on files and folders to open them by default.
  • This change is controversial for those familiar with single-click behavior in KDE Plasma.
  • Click behavior in KDE Plasma 6 is configurable, allowing users to choose between single-click and double-click.

archive.ph/BseL3

This is one of the first things I always tweak in KDE, so I love this change, but I’m curious how others feel.

kawa ,
@kawa@reddeet.com avatar

Normal people won

Zangoose ,

Ok but when do we get to change the drag and drop behavior so it just moves the folder instead of opening a menu

ricdeh ,
@ricdeh@lemmy.world avatar

Please do not change that, I love being able to copy via drag and drop instead of just moving because this way, my clipboard is not polluted unnecessarily

Zangoose ,

I’m fine with a menu being there, just give me the option to make it go away by selecting a default or something.

That single problem makes dolphin unusable for me because there isn’t a basic setting to make it behave like basically every other graphical file manager on any operating system.

(Edited grammar for clarity)

db2 ,

Single click is for web page links, not my computer.

burgermeister ,

Way too easy to accidentally run a program with single click

Ephera ,

It should throw up a prompt to ask, if you really want to run it. You might have disabled that…

Klaymore ,
@Klaymore@sh.itjust.works avatar

You mean… a prompt that needs a second click to run the program?

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, mine does that. Files open with one click, programs need confirmation.

db2 ,

That seems more like and accessibility feature, like what someone with a muscle spasm disorder would find helpful.

Ephera , (edited )

I mean, yeah, muscle spasm disorder or my dumb ass absent-mindedly opening files in my download folder or Jester from HR, who doesn’t know that a job application shouldn’t have the executable icon. For all of us, it improves accessibility, because we don’t need to be as cautious anymore.

elvith ,

Ransomware in Windows:
You need to allow macros to read this job application

Ransomware in Linux:
You need to run chmod +x application.ods.sh to read this job application

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

that reminds me of the albanian virus

https://www.kuppingercole.com/pics/albanianvirus.png

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

It cuts in half the average number of clicks when navigating the file manager. Accessibility or not, it’s a welcome change imo.

db2 ,

I think you’re not following along here. One click was the default, they’re changing it from that to two clicks by default.

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

I’m not referring to the default - (manually) changing it to a single click is a good thing.

Ephera ,

I appreciate the joke, but well, yes. The difference being that it’s only for executables and you need to do click-move-click rather than the usual double-click, so it’s even harder to accidentally trigger.

bionicjoey ,

I’d be okay with a compromise like single click for folders, double click for files

Feathercrown ,

That’s inconsistent though and possibly worse than either other option (but better than single click files double click folders at least, yeesh)

westyvw ,

No it isn’t. It just doesn’t happen.

iopq ,

Joke’s on you, I run Nix, the program won’t even start unless I steam-run it

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

not really, just set to “always ask” or when opening an executable.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4a3e8fa9-f75d-445b-88dc-a0b698b71ed2.png

Jestzer ,

Which is just another, less convenient way of turning a single click into two, no?

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

no, because it only applies to executables.

idk about you, but I only run executables from dolphin once every full moon, or so. And even if it was frequently, it doesn’t come close to the number of folders I open that only need a single click.

Jestzer ,

I guess it depends on habits, then. I use them all the time. Not as much as folders, but enough that I would rather the 2 have the same behavior.

eager_eagle ,
@eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

Right. I use a proper launcher for anything I execute constantly - like Gnome shell or KRunner on KDE. Scripts I usually run in the terminal to see their output. So it’s really rare for me to run anything by clicking on it using Dolphin.

Kusimulkku ,

You’re not running executables from a file manager very often with Linux

Jestzer ,

… I am, though.

Kusimulkku ,

I’m talking about the typical user. There shouldn’t be a need for them to be doing that.

laurelraven ,

Exactly. I never need to select a link on the web to do things like rename or move them, while I do that with files all the time

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

Maybe the KDE devs were expecting you to do file management using the keyboard only. Or maybe they thought that linux users aren’t technical enough that they would ever consider organizing their files. Just dumb it all on the desktop and call it a day, amarite?

gnuplusmatt ,

No one wins no matter what they choose. Those of us who have switched over to single click either now need to adapt or make the tweak.

I guess this a good default for bringing over Windows converts

Kusimulkku ,

Unless they’re overwriting our settings to defaults we really don’t need to do anything. This is for new installs.

knolord ,

I personally also welcome this change, as I have changed that setting anyway and of those people I know, they also changed that behaviour immediately. But as long as you can change it and it isn’t forced on you to only use one method, it’s great.

CrabAndBroom ,

Single-click and the little plus icons on everything in Dolphin are the first things I switch off after install for sure.

Drewski ,

That and the bouncing icons when an app is loading... always thought that looked tacky.

Kusimulkku ,

I love the bouncy icon

Kusimulkku ,

Girlfriend went from KDE to Windows and switched File Explorer to single click hah

Pantherina ,

For all those single-click fans:

  • how do you quickly rename a file?
  • how do you even drag-drop instead of opening stuff?
  • how do you select files?
  • how do you live?

Saying “well kids use web stuff and Android and dont know what a single click is” is basically neglecting the use of a mouse. I love at least 3 buttons, hovering and fast clicks.

Jomosoto ,
  • Ctrl + Click, F2
  • Just drag and drop the file
  • Ctrl + Click

I prefer single click, but I agree that there are situations where double click is more convenient

Pantherina ,

That sounds way worse than double click haha. I have set F2 to Volume (the rest is the normal F keys)

optissima ,

Volume what? Mute?

Pantherina ,

Dont know, I think F1 F2 are up and down, F3 is normal again and would be mute.

I am weird and didnt like sticky Fn keys like it is preconfigured on Thinkpads

Drito ,

I don’t use KDE but I suppose the click is detected on button release, not during the press. It should adress all these questions.

Pantherina ,

This is the only way that makes sense.

cygon ,

Q1: Select (see Q3) + F2

Q2: Same way as double-click people. A file only opens if I click, not when I press the mouse button and drag the file around.

Q3: I draw a small selection frame over it, or press the control key when clicking (I have the hand there any, especially if my next input will be Ctrl+C/X and Ctrl+V

Q4: I just do. Sometimes I relax by playing shooters with the “invert mouse” option turned on :D

I have never had a cell phone or smart phone in my life, single-click was the default when I switched to Linux, I gave it a try and I liked it.

bufalo1973 ,
@bufalo1973@lemmy.ml avatar

Select: click on the + sign.

westyvw ,

Single click is so much better. Vastly superior.

How do I live? Without carpal tunnel.

Pantherina ,

Okay okay I give it a try

huskypenguin ,

Same, but I use double click. Send like single click is a lot of mouse dragging.

westyvw ,

Nope, not really. If you have a list of files you single click on the name, not the icon. That selects it. No dragging.

Kusimulkku ,
  • F2
  • Click and hold
  • Many ways, usually I just drag a box around the files. If there’s many in different places, ctrl + click
  • More convenient without having to double click everything lol
tsonfeir ,
@tsonfeir@lemm.ee avatar

I’m actually kinda suspicious any Linux user would actually want a single click default.

iopq ,

I don’t know how requiring clocking twice instead of once is good

woodgen ,

How do you select files? Probably double click?

deliriousn0mad ,

No, there are those big plus signs appearing on the top-right corner of the icon, if you click there it selects instead of opening. I guess it’s a matter of habit, I can’t get used to it

rufus ,

Or you drag over the files. Or press something like Strg or Shift while clicking. I mean you have to do that anyways, even with double-click per default or you’d lose focus on the first file. And it’s rarely the case that you just want to focus a single file.

Deckweiss ,

I have an extra button on my mouse that double clicks on press.

So I am extremely used to single clicking to see the extra info at the bottom. Aiming or dragging is extra work for me.

rufus , (edited )

Ah okay, I can see that being useful. Seems we have a different workflow. I rarely look at that extra info at the bottom. Usually just to see how many files I selected and their total size. If I’m concerned with single files, I either don’t care for the size and extra info, or I switch to the list view and have it displayed next to each file if I’m organizing stuff. I’ll also sort them by size or whatever in that case. But I’m not concerned with the exact file info while doing regular stuff. So I wouldn’t use that use-case for a single-click very often.

iopq ,

I drag a box around them or Ctrl+click

XTornado ,

Avoids misclicks from opening stuff by mistake just for that alone is worth it to me.

Darken ,
@Darken@reddthat.com avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    XTornado ,

    I meant misclicks like clicking by mistake, like you clicked the item while trying to click something else or simply clicking by mistake the physical button of the mouse… Maybe uncommon… true but when it happens that a folder or full app opens is annoying.

    iopq ,

    Oh, NixOS can’t open anything anyway

    AnUnusualRelic ,
    @AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world avatar

    It’s more wear and tear on mouse buttons! It’s wasteful!

    Blackmist ,

    It would only really make sense as a tablet behaviour.

    Kusimulkku ,

    Why would you be suspicious of that?

    penquin ,

    I’m a single click person, but I welcome this change. Those who like single click already know where to change it. This is good for new users.

    eager_eagle ,
    @eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

    It makes file system navigation much faster and more pleasant imo, I’m definitely reverting this.

    kurumin ,
    @kurumin@linux.community avatar

    How do you select without executing?

    reflex , (edited )
    @reflex@kbin.social avatar

    There's a little + that you can click on the icons.
    Or, you can use the keyboard arrows and spacebar.

    Not sure if there's others.

    Edit: Just found another one actually. Middle-clicking selects without opening.
    This works better than the little + on the icons because the + behaves like a "ctrl-click."

    dirtbiker509 ,

    I haven’t tried it but if it works the same as a mobile OS you long click to select. Single click to execute.

    Edit: apparently that’s not how it works. There is a checkbox on every icon that you have to click directly on the check box to select/unselect.

    eager_eagle ,
    @eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

    I wish a long click worked on desktop though…

    qaz ,

    CTRL + Click

    penquin , (edited )

    I’ve always used the little plus sign on icons. It’s ingrained into my brain. I even did the same on windows before switching to Linux 6 years ago. Single click and the little check box on Windows.

    westyvw ,

    check box

    Its funny, I single click in KDE since 3.X or when ever it was introduced. But I never really used the check boxes.

    eager_eagle , (edited )
    @eager_eagle@lemmy.world avatar

    personally, I don’t like the plus icons (I’d prefer it if they were simple checkboxes), so any one of:

    • (mouse-only) drag a selection box from an empty area
    • (mouse-only) right click directly, already opening the context menu to copy, cut, rename, share, etc - which is often the goal when selecting a single item.
    • Ctrl+Click
    • Shift+Click
    • (kb-only) Arrow keys
    Kusimulkku ,

    Doubt you’ll have to revert this. I don’t think they switch you back to defaults when updating.

    mozzribo ,

    If it wasn’t default, I likely would have never tried single click, which I prefer now.

    Kusimulkku ,

    I really like single click but since this is just about the new default then I don’t really care

    yianiris ,
    @yianiris@kafeneio.social avatar

    Both plasma and gnome will get zero clicks from me. They are the two black holes sucking free open source software into their m{ac,s}-win core.

    @AnActOfCreation

    AnActOfCreation OP ,
    @AnActOfCreation@programming.dev avatar

    What DE do you use?

    yianiris ,
    @yianiris@kafeneio.social avatar

    DE require tremendous overhead of serv/daemons just to be able to make shortcuts/menu items clickable, I would never use such contraptions on my system.

    I use a wm and have no use for polkit, dbus, logind, automount, obfuscated rights elevations and demotions, .... all this crap that unnecessarily must run for the sake of aesthetics and MS-win utility.

    If I needed icons on my background I would use just a light filemanager, like pcmanfm, but I don't.

    @AnActOfCreation

    redcalcium ,

    Emacs obviously.

    smileyhead ,

    So be it. I don’t understand why there is so much debate around such simple setting.

    IronKrill ,

    Same reason we debate how to pronounce GIF (it’s pronounced gif, I’ll have you know) or what toppings to put on pizza. Because it’s entertaining for some, no matter how grating it may get for others.

    Jestzer ,

    People will be damned if…

    1. They are forced to do something for an additional 10 seconds.
    2. Their opinion is wrong.
    LainTrain ,

    Double click to open files/folders Single click to highlight file/folders Hover to focus on window

    Perfection

    debil ,

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fd472dea-a93e-42d2-a9a8-f454ebfd7d8b.jpeg

    This is wholesome in a strange way.

    GunnarGrop ,

    A day of sorrow indeed… No, joking aside. I gather most people use double click anyway, so this is a good change for that reason. I’ve never really understood it myself (the primary function of the left click being “select” when everywhere else it’s “open” or “go to this thing”?? Alien stuff).

    I’m just glad KDE listens to it’s users and adapts to them. Looking forward to the release!

    Pantherina ,

    Its only open on things not meant for file management like web browsers, or when people use their monkey extensions as input device, instead of a mouse with 3 buttons and a scroll wheel ;D

    AnUnusualRelic ,
    @AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world avatar

    At least, like everything else in KDE, you can set it the way you like it (unlike some other environments that will remain nameless).

    mrGarbanzo ,

    This + some other quirks are what have kept me off KDE for a good while. I understand wanting to do things differently, possibly easier – but it’s hard to break old habits.

    AnActOfCreation OP ,
    @AnActOfCreation@programming.dev avatar

    What DE do you use?

    penquin ,

    So instead of changing to double click from the settings, you switched DEs?

    spaduf ,

    It’s not so crazy. Most people choose a DE for the defaults

    thingsiplay ,

    I can understand why someone don’t want to use GNOME, because the defaults can suck for some people. And not everything is configurable. But KDE? Can be configured about anything imaginable. While I understand that not everyone want to go full in to learn everything, I still don’t get the default setting for a simple switch like double/single mouse click is a big deal not to use the environment.

    If you really like KDE and are used to it, then you won’t change to something else just because the next update changes the default value (for new installations only BTW) of mouse click setting.

    penquin ,

    I’m sorry, but this to me, sounds insane and kind of lazy. You can’t go to the settings and make a couple of changes??? People really can’t do that?

    Jack ,

    It may mean the user doesn’t think their use is similar enough to the people who make the distro/DE, or trust the distro makers’ decision making ability.

    If a distros’ makers think snaps are a good idea, or that the distro shouldn’t by default show available security updates, or have a UI that hides how many open instances there are of a program unless you hover over an icon, or hides the titles of those open programs, or hides panels; then the way I use a PC is too different from the way they do - and there are likely more things in the background that we disagree with which can’t as easily be changed like UI settings.

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