Re: Proposal for File-Selection Dialog

[sungod <sungod atdot org>]

Jay Nordwick wrote:

> I think that item 3 is, at best, simply a waste of screen space, at worst
> it is confusing:  Why are these things not in the drop down menu, and
> context sensitive operations (like viewing a file or something) should be
> placed under the RMB when over that file type.  And I really don't care
> about concerns for MACs only having one button.

that's fine; mac users don't care about you not caring; we have better
ways of using our mice anyway (like modifier keys). however, that
doesn't make the problem go away: tablet users, people who don't have
use of their hands and need to use their feet to control a giant mouse
with one big button, little kids, brand-new users, etc. would still
benefit from this enhancement. i still think this gets filed under "good
idea".

> I really don't like the desktop icon, I would prefer a cool looking tilde.
> After all if you are refering to /home/<user> as the desktop, then why
> not use the tilde -- its been that way for years.
> 
> I really do not like the Windows way of putting my computer under the
> desktop.  The computer should the top of the hierarchy, with desktop
> (or $HOME) in the correct location under the proper storage device.

"my computer" is poor design in the first place. it introduces another
layer of abstraction between the machine's operation and the user's
perception of it, which is dangerous. i figured the "my computer" was
only in the tree because the mockups had been done under win32; if there
is actually a proposition to include "my computer" in the gnome file
manager, allow me to start a very loud campaign against it now. :)

your idea of using a tilde is also good, because it doesn't put that
layer of abstraction between the user metaphor and the actual operation,
but i would still prefer to see "/home/<username>/" there instead simply
because this is clearer and doesn't rely on the user knowing beforehand
that his home directory can be abbreviated to "~". it's also more
immediately intuitive regarding the directory structure _above_ the home
directory: the user can see that he needs to click the "parent
directory" button (or whatever it eventually gets called) twice to get
to the root directory. "~" doesn't do this.

> Also, keeping the current tab-completion is an absolute necessity.

i agree. cast my vote for tab-completion too. :)

> Not to sound hash, I really like some thiNgs. I like the whitespace idea
> in the margin (although a little smaller than pictured, but I suppose that
> would be configurable by sliding the beveled edge left).  I really like
> the minimal look:  hiding as much as possible, while not sacrificing
> ease of use.

agreed, and i like the "select all" button above this whitespace, but
think it should be labeled somehow to indicate its usage. ideas?
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