$HOME vs. ~/Desktop ( was Re: Major change in desktop handling )

[Marius Andreiana <mandreiana rdslink ro>]

Very good arguments from Mark in favour of $HOME as desktop.

I'd like to add it will also remove the big confusion between home and
desktop ( gnome file selector, 'Home' icon on desktop which shows the
Desktop directory ). Why not make gnome easier to use?

This also clears the l10n problem - no folder 'Desktop' at all.

Please look (again) at these screenshots:
http://evolvedoo.sourceforge.net/abstract/mydesktop.png
http://evolvedoo.sourceforge.net/abstract/fileselector.gif
http://evolvedoo.sourceforge.net/abstract/file.png

All applications now use $HOME as default to save files. You need only 1
double-click to go to the proper place ( Documents, Images... ), rather
than going to Desktop/Documents.

The biggest problem with $HOME as desktop are other *visible* files.
Evolution is moving to .evolution ( that can be done in time for gnome
2.4 ). Other applications with hidden files in home are moving to
~/.etc/ . These are trivial changes.

About KDE using ~/Desktop. Both kde and nautilus can be changed to use
that or $HOME, but the default is important. Distributions will choose
one or another and we'll see which is nicer.


On Vi, 2003-05-16 at 20:07, MArk Finlay wrote:
> I agree that this argument is not likely to go anywhere so I'm going to
> try and make this my last post on the subject.
> 
> On Fri, 2003-05-16 at 05:33, Dave Camp wrote: 
> > Here's my objection to $HOME-as-the-desktop:
> > 
> > Nautilus' desktop should be a user-managed space.  System-managed files
> > do not belong on the desktop, even if they are hidden.
> 
> To me this is a non-argument. If you cannot see the files then they are
> not going to hurt you in any way.
> 
> > So if you use $HOME as the desktop, you are forcing system-managed files
> > to be on the desktop (even if they are hidden by default).  This doesn't
> > make any sense - if a user turns on 'Show Hidden Files', they don't want
> > their desktop cluttered with a bunch of system-managed files.
> 
> Well there is now way of seeing dotfiles on the desktop atm and I don't
> see why that would ever change. The only hidden files you would ever
> want to view on the desktop are files that are hidden by nautilus
> (if/when it gains that functionality).
> 
> > .gnome-desktop was a pain to use as a document directory, because file
> > selectors defaulted to $HOME, and you couldn't get to ~/.gnome-desktop
> > without knowing where to go and typing it in.  Using ~/Desktop improves
> > that.  Making file selectors default to ~/Desktop will improve it
> > further, in keeping with the idea of the desktop as a place for
> > user-managed files.
> 
> Yeah, but there are still going to be non-gnome files selectors and the
> command line. To me using ~/Desktop for user files seem like a
> workaround instead of a solution. Just because the file selector
> defaults to ~/Desktop does not negate the fact that we are presenting
> the user with both ~/Desktop and $HOME and some applications will use
> one and some will use the other.
> 
> You say that $HOME should not be the desktop because it has has
> system-managed file in it? Why is this any different from the way we
> work now. We have an icon on the desktop that says "home folder",
> encouraging users to store their files there, along with the
> system-managed files. I don't see how this is any different from $HOME
> as desktop, or how it is an argument against it: either way we have a
> mix of system and user files, and no-one really minds.
> 
> LAter
> 
> 
> -- 
> 		 .--= [ MArk Finlay - sisob ] =--.
> 
>         [ Gnome User's Board : www.gnomesupport.org/forums ]
>     [ Public Key: http://evolvedoo.sf.net/sisobatericomdotnet.asc  ]
-- 
Marius Andreiana
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