Re: [Usability] New way of accessing software (WAS: Re: Big Panel menus (32x32))

[Julien Olivier <julo altern org>]

> Yes, I think at some point in the future, folders will stop being folders and
> start being some sort of categories.  This will enable much richer queries:
> Today:
> Documents/
>   Images/
>     Pictures/
>       Jane/
>         Jane and me in the beach.jpg
> 
> Tomorrow:
>   Jane and me in the beach.jpg:
>   Categories:
>      Documents
>      Images
>      Pictures
>      Jane
> 

YES ! That's obviously the way to go. But for that to happen, we also
need to create a save dialog that supports categories. For example, from
OOO or Abiword or GIMP, when saving a document, it should'nt ask me
where I want to put it but which categories are representative of ths
file (with the possibility to create new categories on the fly).

And browsing your files should simply be checking categories. For
example, checking "Dublin" and "Pictures" should show you all your
pictures of Dublin, wherever they are located on your hard drive.

> You will probably still be able to browse in a "by folder"-like fashion.  But
> now  you will be able to locate files in "Year" folders, in "Theme" folders, in
> "Artist" folders, in "Document type" folders, so the minute you remember a
> particular property of a file you're trying to locate, you can narrow down the
> browse set very quickly.
> 
> And at least the Linux file system already supports metadata in the form of EAs
> (extended attributes).  Methinks GNOME should start using them, and falling back
> to the current metadata scheme where EAs aren't available.
> 
> Files on the desktop could be in the "Desktop" category =)  That way we won't be
> fighting over where to place the desktop directory!
> 

That's a possibility but they also could be simply _located_ in the
"desktop" directory. I mean that we should keep categories to really
represent the content of the file and not its location. So, as the
location wouldn't really matter, files could be simply moved to the
desktop folder without changing anything for users.

Let's assume we are in 2010:

You open Nautilus and check "Dublin" and "Picture". The requested
pictures appear. Now, you drag a picture from here and drop it on the
desktop. Your file still appears in the Nautilus windows because it
still have the "Dublin" and "Pictures" categories but, in fact, it has
been _moved_ from /home/bob/pic1.png to /home/bob/Desktop/pic1.png. And
if you don't want it on your desktop anymore, you just drag it from the
desktop and move it to your Home folder on the desktop...

Well, just my 0.02 Irish Pounds (oups... Euros).