Re: Icons of program

[Stefan Nobis <snobis usa net>]

Toshio Kuratomi <badger@prtr-13.ucsc.edu> writes:

> What's wrong with the approach of keeping a system and user file(s) which

I think itīs to complex. Why making it so complex when itīs easier to
just use the users home directory and put there some hidden (dot)
files to represent some special objects on the desktop like
programs. The data objects of the desktop should just be the files in
the users home.

I use computers and GUIs quite a long time but i never really
understand why programmers to it this complex way. I think they are to 
less users.

What wants the user to do? Start programs (like netscape) or edit
files (writing text, painting a picture). What needs he for this task?
The data and the programs. The data, on Unix machines, will be located 
in the users home dir. Why not directly show the user all of his home
(except the hidden dot files). And then the programs. OK, make for
every program a .program.gnomlnk file which can be located anywhere in 
the users home dir. This way the desktop really represents the content 
of the harddisk. Users who sometimes uses the console or the like
would not be confused or have to deal with different directory
structures. Maybe there should be a system dir like .skel from which
some standard .*.gnomelnk files will be copied in the users home dir
but why do you need that much extra directory structures?

When the users makes something stupid it would not be that
problem. What can he do? He can kill his complete home dir - OK, but
this kind of GAU you can also have with this much of different
directory structures. And with this other way of doing it, you have no 
problem to recreate the desktop very fast (except the lost data) -
there should be a tool which scans the hole harddisk for known
programs (kept in a database) and all found programs will get their
.program.gnomelnk file in the users home, placed i.e. in a folder
named īprogramsī. And now the user can start again.

Oh, yea, the problem of settings for the desktop - just do it like
every other program it does: use one or two dotfiles.

This way everything is well integrated in the unix environment and you 
get a very usable desktop which will also be very document centric.

-- 
Until the next mail...,
Stefan.