Finally. Single click to open a file/directory is the first feature that I disable on a fresh system.
Linux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
Personally, I disable it first thing after installing and I think it's easier this way for those who come from Windows. Those who still prefer the single click, can easily enable it again. Not a big deal.
More like for anybody coming from Windows, Mac or 90% of other DEs
My parents found single-click behavior less confusing. It's how everything works on their phones and in web browsers.
Yeah. I also found it massively helpful to tell grandparents to just click on things. Instead of 3 times a day teaching them about the differences between everything and if they want a single left click, a double-click or a right click. And that a double right-click wouldn't do anything useful at all.
Fun times :-D
My dad (early 60s) double-clicks web links as if they were folders. I stopped groaning ages ago lol
Plasma 6 is really shaping up to be quite a nice overhaul of the system.
These are awesome changes. Thank goodness I have one less thing to change on any given install.
I recently switched to KDE and got sooo confused by this not being default. Good they're making the change, small but important.
Noooo I've been using Plasma for over 7 years now and single click became default for me. I'll change it back anyways but still seems like a pointless change to me.
I'll change it back anyways
You don't need to, this is only few new installations
Isn't it nice to have options? I'm a double-click enjoyer, but honestly... I've been thinking about giving single-click a chance. Just to spice things up.
Living life on the edge, what a stud 😎
How are you even supposed to select files and folders in single-click? The tiny little + box that's very easy to miss?
That or holding ctrl. Or dragging and selecting with a box.
I usually drag a selection. It kind of rare that I want to select a single file and just select it and not go ahead and simultaneously open a context menu with the right mouse button.
There is a + over the top left corner of the icon that you can click for selection without opening. Pretty easy to use if you get the hang of it.
edit: Or you just click the right mouse button over the file you want to select.
Even on windows I mostly do ctrl + left click. If I'm selecting files I'm most likely going to copy/cut/paste them, so I'm most likely going to have my other hand on the keyboard anyway
Guess enough Windows users are coming over and they're getting confused/frustrated by the old mouse click behavior.
Is this an historical thing? I was really confused when I started using KDE.
I don't believe so. In KDE3 it was double click IIRC then it changed with the single click during the web mania UI when people suddenly wanted the big unification for everything: phones, fridges, tablets, supercomputers.
Like a lot of other people mention, this is the first thing I flip in plasma too. A mouse with a pointer is just different from a tactile interface.
I personally don't remember it being that way but it's been a long time since I've used KDE. Like, Mandrake was still a thing when I last used it.
Partially, sure, but there's also a lot of KDE devs that are really convinced that it's objectively superior and wanted the default to convince more people to use it.
In 2004, Microsoft was granted a patent on using a double-click on "limited resource computing devices". As a result of this, some observers fear that any U.S. company which uses double-clicking may have to change their product not to use the technology, pay licensing fees to Microsoft, or give Microsoft access to intellectual property.
On the bright side, in the US patents expire after 16 years without an extension, and no patent can last past 20
Honestly, if that is the case, kudos to them. No DE should work against the user, and that doesn't mean the DE is dumbed down.
I get why they're doing it, so it's not a big deal for me as long as I can still use single click to open folders.
That being said, double click always seemed like a weird "hack" to use what is essentially the main function of the left click, no? As in, the primary thing I want to do when left clicking something is to go to that thing. Go to that folder, go to that link and go to (open) that application. "Selecting" is not the main action I use so I've always felt weird when "selecting" gets what is essentially the main function of the mouse, the left click.
I am on the opposite side. Selection feels absolutely like the primary function, with opening a thing being secondary. If nothing else, because it's super easy to click the wrong thing and I don't want to be punished for it. Also, I want to review my options before deciding what to click, and selecting them first helps me stay focused on one thing at a time for a moment. I also often select text I'm reading in a webpage. Helps my reading comprehension
LESS GO, I finally don't have to change that setting every time I use KDE