Re: Gnome-utils branched to gnome-2-14

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>]

On Mon, 2006-02-06 at 10:26 +0100, Emmanuele Bassi wrote:
> On Mon, 2006-02-06 at 08:50 +0100, Vincent Untz wrote:
> > Le lundi 06 f�ier 2006 �0:26 +0100, Emmanuele Bassi a �it :
> > > Hi all,
> > > 
> > > I've branched gnome-utils for GNOME 2.14.
> > > 
> > > 2.14 will use the gnome-2-14 branch; this branch is anchored to the
> > > GNOME_2_14_BRANCHPOINT tag.
> > > 
> > > Development will go on on HEAD, as usual.
> > 
> > Any plans for HEAD you'd like to share with us? :-)
> 
> The "Master Plan" is:

> Screenshot
> 	* heavy bugzilla love
> 	* remove the file name entry and use a filechooser button

I don't like this idea.  I mean, arguably, we have a file chooser
button for exactly this sort of thing.  But the fact that we have
a widget doesn't mean it's the best tool.

I'm a fairly heavy user of the Screenshot tool.  My uses mostly
fall into one of three categories:

1) Taking a screenshot of a bug or some weird behavior, so I
   can show people on IRC or whatever.
2) Taking screenshots of Yelp, to show off new features or new
   interfaces.
3) Taking screenshots for documentation.

In cases 1 and 2, I typically save directly to my public_html
folder on master.gnome.org.  (I love the GnomeVFS integration
we've got in the GTK+ file choosers these days.)  In 2 and 3,
I'm often taking a series of screenshots, and I love the fact
that the Screenshot tool remembers my last folder.

For all cases, I almost always want to rename the screenshot
from the default to make it more URL-friendly.  For 1 and 2,
it's because I'm posting URLs in IRC or in email.  For case 3,
I'm probably sticking the file in CVS and referencing it from
inside a DocBook file.

With a file chooser button, to rename the file, I always have
to click the button and type in a new name.  I also can't see
at a glance which folder I'm saving into.

With a file name entry and a folder chooser button, I can see
at a glance which folder I'm saving into, and I only have to
click the button when I want to change the folder.  (Numbers
taken directly from my ass indicate that's about 10% of the
time.)  I can easily rename the file without having to bring
up an extra dialog, which I want to do nearly 100% of the time.

For me, the current interface is nearly perfect.  Without any
extra dialogs, I can see where I'm saving and change the file
name.  Everything I need is right there.  The only thing you
could do to make it better for me is to select everything but
the ".png" on the file name, like Nautilus does when renaming
a file.

So are we making this change because we really believe it's
better, or are we using widgets for the sake of using them?

--
Shaun