Re: Icons on the desktop

[Dylan McCall <dylanmccall gmail com>]

On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 1:07 PM, Jeff <web kiddo free fr> wrote:
> Hello folks,
> I looked a bit through the mailing list archives and couldn't find a topic
> about this so far... Do the GNOME Shell devs / usability team have any
> position regarding "showing icons (or not)" on the desktop? (currently,
> /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop = False)
>
> While we have had icons on the GNOME desktop since time immemorial, I
> believe those are unnecessary nowadays. They are cruft and file placement
> micro-management, and I personally believe the Shell would be a great way to
> fix the issues that caused this relic to exist.
>
> Any thoughts? Outrage? Insults? :)
> (I wanted to keep this mail short just to "test the waters", but I could
> make a proper essay on PGO if some are interested)
> _______________________________________________
> gnome-shell-list mailing list
> gnome-shell-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-shell-list
>
>

The desktop being drawn by the file manager is the remnant of a
file-centric design. That design, while possibly elegant, is becoming
irrelevant because of the app-centric design we have coming from the
web and now popular smartphone operating systems.

At this point, I think it is silly to still have file management as
the largest, most personalized and immediately accessible thing in
Gnome 3.

Besides, if Nautilus is now considered a technical utility for
advanced users, why should it still run at startup to draw the biggest
part of the desktop?


Dylan