Re: Proposal for File-Selection Dialog

[Tom Vogt <tom lemuria org>]

 Justin Ross <opiskin@hotmail.com> wrote:
 > >Will all Gnome compliant window manager be required to recognize the
 > >idea of a desktop?
 > It seems a general enough phenomenon in GUI environments that they
 > should.  I don't know if they need to, though.

 whoops? I always thought the "desktop" is the desperate try of single-user
 operation systems to have something that resembles the home directory
 system? I haven't yet noticed a "desktop" or a "my computer" or similiar
 useless items on any unix system (that is: aix, digital, solaris or Linux) I
 have used.

 > >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.
 >
 > You and I know what a tilde represents, but my grandma thinks only
 > Spanish-speaking people use them.  The icon, or some icon like it,
 > reinforces the metaphor of the desktop.

 people who are going to use a new operating system are more than willing to
 learn a couple of new things. all it needs is to give them the chance and
 make it easy. so if they move the mouse over the ~, a tooltip should say
 "home directory".

 contrary to public fud, unix principles are far from hard to grasp. I've by
 now installed Linux systems for several people with zero unix knowledge and
 sometimes zero computer knowledge and none of them have any problems with
 concepts like home directories, and learning that ~ is an abbreviation for
 that is memorized instantly.


 > >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.
 >
 > I like the mac way of doing it.  Removable media automatically appear on
 > the desktop, and so do network links.  These items then appear at the
 > top of file-selection dialog file lists.

 make that configurable, PLEASE! I can see the points for the mac's way, but
 I know at least one person (me) that hates it when the machine does
 something on it's own without me having it told to.


-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
		-- Henry Spencer