There's a Dbus spec for this no need to use a deamon directly.
http://people.gnome.org/~mccann/docs/notification-spec/notification-spec-latest.html
Yes, actually, that's the proper way to use the notification daemons (there's no other way to add support for them).
I don't think this is a good idea. First of all, the notifications look the same across all platforms, so there isn't really "unnecessary duplicated code", ie. it's going to be needed if Linux uses it or not. It is also themed after the steam client to make the connection obvious.
The biggest factor though is that these same notifications are displayed in-game via the steam overlay, which can obviously not be drawn by your DE, so you would create needless difference in UI which would just confuse users.
I don't think it's important to anyone that steam looks the same on all platforms. On the contrary, users value that applications integrate into their desktop, and the OS they've chose. Having a foreign look and feel shoven down their throats is somewhat disrespectful; they've chosen the OS they use, and configured it to look how they like. If no application respected that, then user choices are pretty much in vane.
Also, notifications by notification-daemon (in particular, xfce4-notifyd) are shown fine over steam games. In particular, I've noticed both my volume and IM notificacions showing on top of L4D2.
The DE is mostly irrelevant. Most notification-daemons will run fine without a DE, as does steam.
I don't think it's important to anyone that steam looks the same on all platforms.
I never said any of the likes. I just explained why there is no redundant code.
Also, notifications by notification-daemon (in particular, xfce4-notifyd) are shown fine over steam games. In particular, I've noticed both my volume and IM notificacions showing on top of L4D2.
I've noticed that, and immediately disabled those when playing games because it causes terrible lag (because the wm suddenly has to composite).
Steam currently shows it's own notifications, on the bottom left corner (which is odd, since the default is generally the upper right corner).
For me the notifications are in the bottom right corner just like the DE notifications. Weird.
Couldn't Steams own notifications be used ingame and DE notifications elsewhere
Yes, sorry, I meant lower right, my mistake.
My DE notifications are upper right, though (I find that this is usually the default on most distributions).
so what’s going on here? this is a usability isssue, as steam notifications don’t stack with regular ones, as well as a design issue because they look out of place.
i get that steam has its own consistent style across platforms, and i don’t propose to change look&feel for the main window or ingame UI. but notifications on linux just aren’t something that applications are supposed to handle themselves: there is a standard way to do it which should be used. there are several ways to do this compliantly:
notify-send (spawn a subprocess)and finally: all we ask for is an option, if you are opposed to do it per default. Settings → Appearance → Use system notifications ☑
The biggest factor though is that these same notifications are displayed in-game via the steam overlay, which can obviously not be drawn by your DE, so you would create needless difference in UI which would just confuse users.
Every time I raise/lower my volume I see my desktop's notifications pop ups in-game. I find two different noticiations covering each other up more confusing.
Also, ALL my desktop apps use the same notifications. Why would Steam integrating into my desktop consude me?
Finally, if it's about consistency, why are out-of-game notifications in the lower-right corner, and in-game notification on the upper-right corner?
I don't think this is a good idea. First of all, the notifications look the same across all platforms, so there isn't really "unnecessary duplicated code", ie. it's going to be needed if Linux uses it or not. It is also themed after the steam client to make the connection obvious.
Notifications can have icons. If there's a Steam icon, and it says "John is online", I'm pretty unlikely to be confused. If there's a steam notification with a desktop (volume?) notification covering it up, I am confused.
#46 is pretty much the opposite of this issue.
This issue proposes that steam integrate into the OS using the notifications system already in-place.
#46 suggests that steam override (and somehow kill?) that notification system, and show all system notifications using it's same UI, which is think is quite the opposite of integration, and a pretty awful idea, IMHO.
I made a comment in #46 earlier (a few months ago) and thought that it was this. I'll move it here:
Out of all of these points, I most strongly agree with the one about libnotify. Better integration with the desktop would be nice, but is not essential in my mind. I think libnotify is a good start on that, and I think the least likely to create new bugs since it's pretty easy to do (you can make a notification now in bash with
notify-send 'Glados says:' 'I saw a deer today.' && aplay ~/.steam/steam/friends/message.wav)
On my system, it even does queueing with other apps. I can customize its position and appearance.Thanks to John Drinkwater for pointing me to this request from the Steam forums.
edit: added sound and a few more words
Nothing extracted yet.
Most linux distros ship with notification-daemon/xfce4-notifyd/etc to show desktop notifications from different applications.
Almost all linux applications use it's interface to show users notifications, maintaing a consistent UI and nice system integration. (I belive steam and skype are the only two exceptions).
Steam currently shows it's own notifications, on the bottom left corner (which is odd, since the default is generally the upper right corner). They also do not respect desktop theme, etc. There's little point in steam reinventing the wheel, keeping duplicate code that actually lowers integration with the desktop in general. Using the "Desktop Notifications Specification" will allow better desktop integration with *nix OSs, and trim down unnecessary code from the steam client.