I like those improvements. Let's explore them.

I'll pitch in if I can. I've spent enough time in the Kickoff code trying to make circular avatars... argh.

As an FYI... the way Kicker/Kickoff/Dashboard are coded is very clever. The individual icon entries are all created from the same code. Eike is very good at writing reusable code. The different launchers just sort and display them in different layouts. So if we add a "new" badge (an idea to which I give a +1), I believe it will show up in all the launchers. I don't see that as a bad thing, however.

Regarding the recents section being in open view like this, I don't think this is a very good idea. Because not only would I, the user, be presented with most of the files I just used and don't need to use again (very few of them do I need access to again, and a "favorites" (as opposed to recent) files section would serve this function much better), I would also be presented with lots of them (this section takes up most of the space in the menu), and not only would I be exposed to these files, so would anyone looking over my shoulder while using the computer (my friends, my mom etc.) letting them see the tawdriest contents of my hard drive in their full glory, if you know what I mean.

In T9042#148228, @rooty wrote:

Regarding the recents section being in open view like this, I don't think this is a very good idea. Because not only would I, the user, be presented with most of the files I just used and don't need to use again (very few of them do I need access to again, and a "favorites" (as opposed to recent) files section would serve this function much better), I would also be presented with lots of them (this section takes up most of the space in the menu), and not only would I be exposed to these files, so would anyone looking over my shoulder while using the computer (my friends, my mom etc.) letting them see the tawdriest contents of my hard drive in their full glory, if you know what I mean.

That is an interesting point you raise. What would be the difference between that and the current state where the History tab is present? Isn't this "risk" the same? I mean, if you think about it, anything that you do on the computer is subject to having someone looking over you shoulder. Once you open the computer, it is open for others to see. It is the same with any other devices really. So I wonder. Is this point or high relevancy?

In T9042#148230, @abetts wrote:

In T9042#148228, @rooty wrote:

Regarding the recents section being in open view like this, I don't think this is a very good idea. Because not only would I, the user, be presented with most of the files I just used and don't need to use again (very few of them do I need access to again, and a "favorites" (as opposed to recent) files section would serve this function much better), I would also be presented with lots of them (this section takes up most of the space in the menu), and not only would I be exposed to these files, so would anyone looking over my shoulder while using the computer (my friends, my mom etc.) letting them see the tawdriest contents of my hard drive in their full glory, if you know what I mean.

That is an interesting point you raise. What would be the difference between that and the current state where the History tab is present? Isn't this "risk" the same? I mean, if you think about it, anything that you do on the computer is subject to having someone looking over you shoulder. Once you open the computer, it is open for others to see. It is the same with any other devices really. So I wonder. Is this point or high relevancy?

The risk is hardly the same. Currently
(1) I have to click on History to see it (or Recent Documents in the smaller menu) which is great because you can neither see it right away (privacy) nor does it get in the way of my favorites (clutter)
(2) If I choose to, I can disable this function without much change in the original menu layout (whereas in Nate's mockup it would carve out a sizable chunk of the main menu screen / require a redesign)

Just because people can see my screen that doesn't mean they have access to it, I decide what they get to see and I hardly think most people would prefer to have their most private files so openly advertised.

That's not my main point though; my main point is that I don't think the recent files section should take up so much room... they're usually files you use once or twice and don't pay much attention to later on.

Is this relevant? I'll let you decide. :D

I've never been terribly convinced by the "someone could be looking over your shoulder!" argument because conceptually, there is no automatic way to protect against it. If what you're currently doing is really so sensitive or embarrassing that nobody should be able to see it while you're doing it, then only situational awareness can save you: don't do it in a public place or where your screen could be made visible to others. Don't watch porn at the library do your online banking at a coffee ship. It's just asking for trouble.

The issue of sensitive information leaking into non-sensitive contexts due to history being saved is more real though. That's a potential issue here: you're watching porn you've saved locally working on top secret files, then you end that activity and later you get out your computer and open Kickoff while at a kindergarten graduation mixer attended by employees of a rival company, and they can see some of the sensitive files you opened in the Recent Files section.

This is a real concern, made especially important by KDE's focus on T7050: Privacy Software. That's why my mockup includes a Forget all button for each of the recents sections. Kicker already has the ability to simply turn these sections off entirely, and it sounds like if my proposal is accepted and implemented, that we should port that feature to Kickoff too. Keep in mind that the mockups are intentionally "low-fi"; they're meant to communicate a general approach, not include every little detail.

Let's also keep in mind that this is a pre-existing challenge. Kickoff's History tab and Dolphin's Recently Saved Places section already offer avenues for private activity to become exposed later. And happily, I think we already have an appropriate solution for this overarching problem: when you want to access your sensitive content, you use a separate Activity that has Private - do not track usage for this activity checked. You can (and should!) also put the sensitive files a Plasma vault, and link the vault to that activity.

Thanks for sharing your views, @rooty. If this feature is accepted, I'm confident we'll find a way to ensure that privacy is respected.

Nice touch on the struck through text hahahah

The privacy things you mentioned make sense, yes, if you don't forget to click Forget All or do it in a private activity (which is a very nice feature if I do say so myself).

I know it's just a mockup but what do you think about the space/room that the recents take up relative to the favorites, considering that a lot of the recents you work on may either be disposable or even if they are files you're constantly working on, might get displaced by files you don't pay as much attention to? Will it be assigning priorities to certain files (word documents?) and excluding others (music?)?

In T9042#148351, @rooty wrote:

I know it's just a mockup but what do you think about the space/room that the recents take up relative to the favorites, considering that a lot of the recents you work on may either be disposable or even if they are files you're constantly working on, might get displaced by files you don't pay as much attention to? Will it be assigning priorities to certain files (word documents?) and excluding others (music?)?

An interesting idea!

Also, we could easily include a size control in combination with the setting to turn off the Recents section. Something like this:

Recent apps & documents: (o) Show 5
                         ( ) Show 3
                         ( ) Don't show

Something like that. If there's not enough space, it could be a combobox instead.

That works! Being able to modify the size of the section (the entire menu too?) might also let kickoff double as a drop down menu (for a finder-esque plasma panel) and a pop up menu.

In T9042#148333, @ngraham wrote:

That's why my mockup includes a Forget all button for each of the recents sections.

May I suggest that if a Forget all button is implemented, that it should also work for KRunner's display of history? If not one could get effects like Bug 395695 (Private activity usage is displayed by KRunner).

one thing very important to me, is that the popup doesn't get more cluttered compared to current kickoff.
those mockups so far look kinda "busy"

Ping?

5.15 kickoff meet comments:
<ngraham> Realistically I see that nobody has time for that