Re: Proposal for File-Selection Dialog

["Ian Bicking" <bickiia earlham edu>]

>>  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.
[snip]
> 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.

Tilde isn't the same as /home/<username>/.  The home directory is not
hard-wired into the operating system, and it certainly shouldn't be
hardwired into the GUI.  For instance, on my machine ~root == /root.

One way of getting around this is, if you hit ~ you automatically get
your home directory inserted into the fileselection.  I believe Netscape
does this (?).  This is, IMHO, a very bad thing.  First, you typed one
letter, if should be undoable with one backspace.  Second, it doesn't allow
for ~username, which is often useful (though on an order of magnitude less
than ~).

~ is a new concept, but a useful one.  If it is used extensively, people can
learn it fairly easily.  For instance, in many shells when you set the
prompt to display the current directory it will include tildes.  This makes
the home-directory a much more ubiquitous notion.  Recently Used File lists
could use ~, title bars that have the current filename could use ~, etc.
Then it wouldn't be a difficult concept.  The home directory *could* be the
same as the desktop (?)

I don't think the hiarchy is too important to express for the home directory
(that you can go up two directories to get to /).  The home directory is
fairly isolated from elsewhere.  It is, really, the divisions between
personal files, other people's files, and system files.  It isn't really a
division to be crossed lightly.

                                    -- Ian