Re: Major change in desktop handling

[MArk Finlay <sisob eircom net>]

I agree that this argument is not likely to go anywhere so I'm going to
try and make this my last post on the subject.

On Fri, 2003-05-16 at 05:33, Dave Camp wrote: 
> Here's my objection to $HOME-as-the-desktop:
> 
> Nautilus' desktop should be a user-managed space.  System-managed files
> do not belong on the desktop, even if they are hidden.

To me this is a non-argument. If you cannot see the files then they are
not going to hurt you in any way.

> So if you use $HOME as the desktop, you are forcing system-managed files
> to be on the desktop (even if they are hidden by default).  This doesn't
> make any sense - if a user turns on 'Show Hidden Files', they don't want
> their desktop cluttered with a bunch of system-managed files.

Well there is now way of seeing dotfiles on the desktop atm and I don't
see why that would ever change. The only hidden files you would ever
want to view on the desktop are files that are hidden by nautilus
(if/when it gains that functionality).

> .gnome-desktop was a pain to use as a document directory, because file
> selectors defaulted to $HOME, and you couldn't get to ~/.gnome-desktop
> without knowing where to go and typing it in.  Using ~/Desktop improves
> that.  Making file selectors default to ~/Desktop will improve it
> further, in keeping with the idea of the desktop as a place for
> user-managed files.

Yeah, but there are still going to be non-gnome files selectors and the
command line. To me using ~/Desktop for user files seem like a
workaround instead of a solution. Just because the file selector
defaults to ~/Desktop does not negate the fact that we are presenting
the user with both ~/Desktop and $HOME and some applications will use
one and some will use the other.

You say that $HOME should not be the desktop because it has has
system-managed file in it? Why is this any different from the way we
work now. We have an icon on the desktop that says "home folder",
encouraging users to store their files there, along with the
system-managed files. I don't see how this is any different from $HOME
as desktop, or how it is an argument against it: either way we have a
mix of system and user files, and no-one really minds.

LAter


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