Re: Desktops: a post-2.4 suggestion.

[Callum McKenzie <callum physics otago ac nz>]

> You introduce 2 problems.
Well it wouldn't have been a cunning plan if it didn't have a fatal flaw.

> 1. Direct manipulation won't work - dragging a desktop file will move a
> link, not the file it appears to be. Special casing this for links on
> the desktop vs. links everywhere else is inconsistent.
I was actually thinking of the "links" being special cases, after all the
desktop is a special place in the first place. Of course dragging the link
into the home directory is going to cause issues ...

> 2. The user thinks he's storing lots of files in his desktop, and will
> probably get confused when he looks in $HOME. He thought he saved those
> file to the desktop! Since they are on the desktop as well, he can
> safely delete these extra copies, can't he. Can't he?
This is the real killer for the idea. In the hours since I made the
original post I've come up with several other ways it can go wrong too,
not as badly as this though.

> (Basically, lying to a user about what's happening is likely to confuse
> him in the long run.)
Just give the users the physical location on the disk, everything else is
a lie ;).

 - Callum