Re: Technical objection to KDE double-click default in Debian 13 - Request for corrective action before release

Le 23 juillet 2025 11:01:36 GMT+02:00, Lucy <Lucy=2ES@Diplomats=2Ecom> a =
=C3=A9crit=C2=A0:
>Dear Debian Developers,

Dear Lucy,

for the record to everyone this has already been discussed in #1101759 [1]=
 and I declined to do the change discussed here=2E

Answering here as the Debian Plasma maintainer and member of the Debian De=
sktop team=2E

>With the upcoming release of Debian 13 "Trixie", I want to formally raise=
 a critical technical objection to one of the adopted upstream changes that=
 risks undermining the efficiency,
>consistency, and user trust that Debian has long upheld:
>
>KDE Plasma 6's decision to enforce double-click as the default behavior f=
or file interaction=2E

Indeed that's what we've been shipping in Trixie since upstream did the ch=
ange=2E

>This change, introduced by KDE's upstream maintainers and publicly promot=
ed by Nate Graham, is not a neutral adjustment=2E
>It constitutes a user experience regression that actively degrades workfl=
ow efficiency for advanced users and developers,
>and contradicts Debian's historical role as a distribution that respects =
user autonomy and practicality over cosmetic defaults=2E
>
>_*I strongly urge the Debian Desktop Team to consider overriding this def=
ault or at minimum providing an opt-in mechanism at installation time=2E*_
>
>*1=2E Debian's strength lies in curating, not copying upstream*

Indeed that's what we do=2E And my conclusion on the topic is that double-=
click is fine as a default=2E

>2=2E The double-click change is functionally regressive*

I disagree with that statement and your analysis=2E I consider it a matter=
 of taste=2E

>*3=2E "New user friendliness" is not a Debian design principle*

Maybe, maybe not=2E But in this case I think the upstream default is fine=
=2E

>*4=2E Combined with Wayland, this shift further fragments usability*
>
>Wayland is now being shipped by default in KDE 6, despite known limitatio=
ns with multi-display, remote workflows, legacy software, and graphical tab=
let support=2E

Quite the opposite, the support for touch, multi-screen, various scaling a=
nd refresh rates are already must better with Wayland in the trixie version=
 of Plasma=2E

There are some remaining issues to address with Wayland that upstream KDE =
tracks very publicly at [1]=2E

>*5=2E Proposal: restore or prompt for interaction mode*

>*6=2E Debian must remain a power-user OS by default*

I'm pretty sure power user not change a default option to what they prefer=
, right ?

You can even automate this setup in any way you like by adding the followi=
ng to your ~/=2Econfig/kdeglobals :
[KDE]
SingleClick=3Dtrue


Mind you I like single click and it's not going away=2E I backported a com=
mit to dolphin for trixie just this morning to fix a bug specific to single=
 click mode=E2=80=A6

But I don't think we have convincing enough arguments to diverge from upst=
ream for Debian's defaults here=2E


[1] <https://bugs=2Edebian=2Eorg/cgi-bin/bugreport=2Ecgi?bug=3D1101759>
[2] <https://community=2Ekde=2Eorg/Plasma/Wayland_Known_Significant_Issues=
>


Happy hacking,
--
Aur=C3=A9lien