Re: GWP and 'the foot'

[Samuel Solon <ssolon usa net>]

>
>i agree with the separation between file-level menu choices and
>application-level menu choices (as i should; it was my proposal
>initially!), but would like to know if there's still anybody hanging out
>here who thinks that we should follow other gui's in menu layout (or in
>_any_ design decision) and why.
>

It's baaaaaack! Of course maybe this time the discussion can go on without
the distracting flame wars.

I'm not so much in favor of following a particular other GUI but there
seems to have been a convergence in applications that the first
"application" menu is the "File" menu which contains the way of ending the
application and the "filing" operations (whether actual disk files are used
or not).

There are so few standards on Unix that to abandon such a widely followed
practice should only be done if there is a significant advantage. I've
never heard any really good arguments made in favor of the "foot" menu
other than it being "uniquely gnome" or "logical". If I remember correctly
from so long ago I think the "logical" argument went along with a proposal
to have the menu bar structured in a hierarchy that was to match an
(alleged) hierarchy of application objects.

Another consideration is that people will continue to use non-gnome
software along with gnome (for example xemacs) and most of it follows the
"File" menu practice. Again, gnome should be moving towards unifying
application interfaces not breaking them by being different for the sake of
being different.

I would never argue that the menubar model that applications have been
using for so many years is optimal but it has becoming ingrained in
people's minds. Making minor changes in it is disruptive and I doubt it
will really improve usability significantly.