Re: SV: [Nautilus-list] Desktop folder

[Benjamin Kahn <xkahn ximian com>]

Why not do this:

When running Nautilus (or whatever) for the first time:

Detect how many non-hidden (which might include special directories and
files like Mail/ and Desktop/ in the future) are in your home directory.
        
        1. If there are less than some number (say...  15?) in the
           directory, default to using your home directory as your
           desktop.  This will catch new, tidy, or newbie users.  
        2. Possibly put up a first time splash/welcome screen offering
           help.

        1. If there are more than the magic number in the directory,
           default to using a magic directory somewhere under your home
           directory.
        2. Pop up a dialog which informs the user where their desktop
           folder is.

At this point, people who will most likely like having their Home
Directory == their Desktop Directory will.  Those who will most likely
be annoyed by this won't.  And for those cases where we guessed wrong,
it can be changed.

	The biggest problem with this proposal is that the initial
configuration of people's accounts will differ.  It might end up being a
headache for IT depts.  


On Wed, 2002-03-20 at 15:30, Joe Shaw wrote:
> On Wed, 2002-03-20 at 14:59, Tuomas Kuosmanen wrote:
> >     Please, no. :-)
> >     
> >     The desktop directory should just be easily accessible from file
> >     selectors.  KDE got it right by calling it ~/Desktop.
> > 
> > Maybe I am stupid but I really dont see good reasons why it wouldnt be a
> > good idea. Using it for a year, and it still makes sense, mind you. And
> > I use the desktop a _lot_. But I understand people who dont want files
> > on the desktop as well. People like Iain and you clearly use the desktop
> > for different purpose, thus it makes a lot of sense to keep it
> > configurable. Whatever the default is should not matter for "power
> > users" anyway since one can just configure it.
> 
> I don't think it's a good idea for $HOME to be the default desktop,
> although I definitely think it should be configurable, here's why:
> 
> My personal feeling is that my desktop is for launchers, links, etc.,
> and my home directory is my "dumping ground" for a bunch of stuff.  I
> recently cleaned up my home directory and it's still 110 entries, and
> 40+ of them are directories.  I would argue that many users are like me
> and dump their junk in $HOME.  And I don't want a bunch of .desktop
> files cluttering up my $HOME.
> 
> Consider the first-time user, starting up GNOME: If they've been using
> KDE, or whatever, and the first time they log in they have icons -all
> over- their desktop, which is supposed to be simple and basic, they'll
> have a terrible first impression of GNOME.  If they don't spend the time
> looking for an option to turn it off (they probably won't, it likely
> won't even occurred to them) and it's not obvious how to get rid of the
> desktop icons altogether (it's not), then they may stop using GNOME
> altogether.  The default should be the option that makes sense for the
> majority of the users and cater to the lowest denominator (if it's
> reasonable).  If an advanced user wants $HOME as a desktop, that's fine,
> but make them look for it.  
> 
> I'm all for making it a configurable option, but I don't think it's a
> big problem as long as we clearly distinguish the difference between
> one's home directory and one's desktop.  Windows seems to do this just
> fine, so I don't think it's a big usability problem.  (Although it can
> be difficult figuring out where exactly your home is on the file
> system)  I also think that icons which take you to your home directory
> or the desktop, like in the Ximian file selector, also go a long way.
> 
> Joe
> 
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