Re: [HC Evolution] Re: libole2 -> gnomevfs backend?

[John Karcz <jsk29 cornell edu>]

Matt Loper wrote:

> >   But, incidentally, I must say am not very fond of this
> > filesystem-in-a-file idea myself.  Why not just using a directory?
>
> Localizing Evolution and Wombat related data into a file makes things easier
> for a user. They can move a file from one machine to another, and they can
> back up that one file onto another machine. We're going for ease of use
> here; a single file for storage says "I'm your Evolution stuff", but a
> directory says "I have a million files in me, and I'm complicated. Edit my
> files and you'll mess everything up. Explore me and you'll get confused."
>
> Likewise, I think although we could store some settings in (say) gconf,
> those settings should be duplicated in our file -- again, so that if one
> changes machines, and moves their one file, they can fire up Evolution
> without problems.
>
> I admit, putting this stuff into a file (rather than a directory) doesn't
> make programmers' lives easier. But we're designing Evolution for users
> first, not programmers. :)
>
> -Matt

I will be an Evolution user, and this will make my life harder. :)

I don't think we should try to pack everything into one file.  This is
what the directories in filesystems are for.  If users' ability to move
a directory is the hurdle, I think that is the issue which should be
addressed.

Moving a directory full of infomation from one computer to another is
a joke, you either tar the directory or use ncftp or the like to
recursively
copy it.

In either case they are simple, non-obfuscated commands, which at most
merit a paragraph or two in the Help file under "Moving my mail from one
computer to another."

If you are still worried about users having trouble moving a directory
full of information from one computer to another, make it easy to do
from
Nautilus, so that it helps more people than just the Evolution users.
(Moving entire directories is an extremely common task!)

John