Input and mode configuration in system compositor

[Léo Gillot-Lamure]

Hi,

> Does there really need to be two compositors?
> 
> It would be nice to run programs for two users on the same screen and 
> see them both at once, rather than "fast user switching". Desktop 
> switching is nice but I see no reason (except for history) to bind it so 
> strongly to "user". What I would like to see is the ability to run a 
> program that says "now I want to be this user" and then all programs you 
> then launch belong to that user.
> 
> Wayland seems well enough designed that this should be possible.

No, having separate desktop per user is essential, the basic usage
behind it is privacy and identity: you don't want your little sister to
be able to send messages using the IM program launched with your
identity, and she doesn't want you to be able to read her diary using
the document viewer launched with her identity. You may also want to use
a different DE, or simply a different wallpaper.

About history, I think that with X it was historically easier to launch
a program as another user in the same X session than doing
fast-user-switching. (gksudo was here before fast-user-switching gnome
applet)

> 
> Per-user key setup is nice but all current systems make it a pain to fix 
> the setup for all users, this would make that easier. When I buy a new 
> keyboard and plug it into the computer, it is not likely that I am going 
> to switch back to the old keyboard when a different user is on the 
> machine. And you have to face the fact that most of this "configuration" 
> is to make the new hardware work correctly, not some kind of "user 
> preference".

Can't agree on this: there are all the users that want to use
dvorak-like maps or all the "typing on a foreign keyboard" cases, for
example.