Re: [gentoo-user] How do I eject an audio CD inside Gnome?

[Alan McKinnon]

Apparently, though unproven, at 12:10 on Monday 30 May 2011, Alan Mackenzie 
did opine thusly:

> > My money says you've been hit by the Gnome Borg - where you are only
> > permitted to do things the way the gnome devs have deemed to be
> > appropriate and TheOneTrueWay(tm). After all, you are just a user, what
> > do you know? The devs know better, you must trust them!
>
> You're dashed right.  I now understand what's happening:  When a CD is
> inserted and Gnome detects it as an audio CD, the CD drive is locked.  At
> the same time, a stupid icon "Audio Disc" appears on the screen.

I don't understand why they lock it. If you can physically press the eject 
button the drive should open because you can just as easily put a paperclip in 
the little hole and force it open.

A case can be made for locking the software controls - with software, open the 
drive using the matching command to what loads it. But not physical controls

> Right clicking on "Audio Disc" gives an "eject" menu point.  YUCK!!!  If
> I'd've wanted an Apple Macintosh, I know where to buy one.  I just want
> my drive's eject button to work.
>
> It gets worse.  If you double click on "Audio Disc", it opens a window
> with the "files" uselessly displayed.  Right clicking gives a menu point
> "unmount" (I kid you not), as though a filesystem were mounted.  This
> unlocks the drive.
>
> I feel like screaming.  AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel your pain

> > I can't be of much more help to you, I don't use Gnome at all (see above)
>
> Can't say I blame you.  What's the choice, though?  I appreciate the
> spare uncluttered desktop of Gnome.  Last time I tried KDE (about 7 years
> ago) it was anything but uncluttered.  I tried XFCE briefly, but couldn't
> get it to run stably.  Besides, it was missing an application to switch
> between keyboard layouts, something I absolutely need.

I hear good things about XFCE these days. If you haven't tried it lately, it 
might be worth a new look. And you can always write a small script to change 
your keyboard layout if there's no gui app. Not as convenient as a systray 
icon, but probably a small price to pay if everything else suits your needs

There's also other DEs like *box and e17.

e17 requires a huge mind shift in how you perceive the desktop but once you 
get your head around it, it becomes strangely addictive.


-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com