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I have not yet found a question like this, and that surprises me.

I have Ubuntu 11.04 with Compiz and Gnome 2.x

What I would love to have is for applications to open on the workspace that I'm in on the moment I click on their icon.

Usually what happens is that you click on an application, you will get a "Starting application" in your task bar, and then the application will open in whatever workspace you're in.

So a typical example is that I'm in my programming in my IDE, and I hit the debug button, and switch to another workspace to check my mails while my application is compiling. When it is done, I want it to spawn a window in the original workspace, and not in front of my mail client, so that I have to move it back up (seems like a waste of time + it's annoying)

Same thing for applications that spawn new windows: It should open in the same workspace as the application that spawns it.

This isn't about opening specific applications in specific workspaces, because I don't want to configure this for each of my applications. I want a global solution.

Any help? This has been bugging me about ubuntu in general for years now.

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3
  • You could try to use devilspie. I do not know a more generic way. I file this as a comment as I cannot give a stepwise explanation to solve your problem using devilspie. If you managed it, please post an answer yourself, I am also interested in it
    – Michael K
    Feb 1, 2012 at 13:06
  • I've heard about that before. I'll look into it. Thx
    – Tovi7
    Feb 1, 2012 at 17:38
  • I've looked at it and devilspie doesn't have an option (unless I completely missed it) to do what I stated above. I could still manually set each application individually, but this seems like more of a workaround than an actual solution. Again, still looking for a general solution (that is dynamic), and not a case-by-case solution that is configured statically.
    – Tovi7
    Feb 2, 2012 at 11:10

1 Answer 1

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+100

You can workaround this issue with Compiz Settings Manager:

1) Install ccsm,

2) Open it (Alt + F2 and type ccsm and hit Enter),

3) Go to "Windows Management" > "Place Windows",

enter image description here

4) Open the tab "Fixed Windows Placement",

enter image description here

5) Under "Windows with fixed viewport" click at "New". At the new opened windows click at the + to add the program you want to configure.

enter image description here

enter image description here

Enjoy ;-)

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  • I really appreciate the effort you put into your answer, but I was looking for a more general approach to my problem instead of a statically defined manual per-application solution. this is almost equivalent to the devilspie solution suggested by a user above. Though, to show I'm not a bad person, I'll give you the bounty if nobody comes up with a more general solution in the next 3 days.
    – Tovi7
    Feb 6, 2012 at 10:14
  • Also, a quote from my original question: "This isn't about opening specific applications in specific workspaces, because I don't want to configure this for each of my applications. I want a global solution."
    – Tovi7
    Feb 6, 2012 at 10:15
  • I understand. Unfortunately I don't know how to do that. I will do some research.
    – desgua
    Feb 7, 2012 at 0:25
  • I'm sorry I couldn't find your answer yet.
    – desgua
    Feb 7, 2012 at 23:39
  • Alright, thanks for the effort. I'm giving you the bounty. I don't think this is possible in ubuntu, I guess it is just one of its flaws. I'm now using your workaround, which is better, but still has some annoyances such as, when I move (lets say firefox) to another workspace, it will still spawn its own new windows in the original hard-coded workspace, which can get confusing at times. Anyway, thanks for trying!
    – Tovi7
    Feb 9, 2012 at 9:51

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