Re: Major feature that is missing in gnome

["Eugene O'Connor" <eugene oconnor sun com>]

Pat,

I think that the Nautilus understanding of desktop also includes the desktop icons. So I think the difference in usage can be summarized as follows:

Interface item      | Usage of desktop term 
--------------------+------------------------------------------
Show Desktop button | Background + icons on background + panels
Nautilus            | Background + icons on background 

Eugene


Pat Costello wrote:
> 
> >
> > <quote who="Rodney Dawes">
> >
> > > Yes. But it is inconsistent with the rest of the "buttons". I could care
> > > less about the implementation too, as long as it's consistent with other
> > > implementations, as far as the UI is concerned.
> >
> > ... and yet it *is* different. 'Show Desktop' is a toggle button, the others
> > are single-click launchers. You have three options:
> >
> >   a) make the 'Show Desktop' toggle button flat to begin with, so you have a
> >   normal state and a depressed state.
> >
> >   b) make all launchers proper 3D (non-toggle) buttons
> >
> >   c) do something completely different
> >
> > a) and b) sound hokey to me - I'll leave c) up to anyone who can think
> > straight at 2am.
> >
> > - Jeff
> 
> I was piqued by the emergence of this interesting little button. Not so much by
> the intrinsic nature of the button, but more by the functionality of the button.
> What exactly does the button show? The desktop, you might reply. Well, what does
> that mean exactly? My understanding is that the button shows the following: the
> thing behind the icons + the desktop icons + the default panels. In other words,
> the understanding behind this button is not the same as the Nautilus
> understanding of the meaing of "desktop", which is just the thing behind the
> icons. Does this mean after all that there is an engineering understanding of
> "desktop" that is more inclusive than just the thing hanging in the back?
> 
> Pat