Re: Volume handling proposal

[Dave Camp <dave ximian com>]

I haven't had a chance to read this whole thread, sorry if I'm rehashing
things.

> The desktop will contain the current Home link and trash can. Home is
> here since it is a really frequently visited location, basically being
> the unix version of "My Documents". Some people dislike this because
> it creates a loop (Desktop is in Home, Desktop points to home), but I
> think its more important to have quick access to home than being
> "loop-free".

With the new file selector, maybe we can start making the desktop
directory the primary storage area for files?  The cycle is really ugly,
and will be an instant screw-up for the spatial file manager model.  The
Desktop also has the benefit of being totally user-managed, which makes
it a better place for them to be putting files.

> Its might make sense to present some other hardware elements in the
> same way as volumes, even though these are not really
> filesystems. Things like printers and scanners. This can be useful, 
> since these highly-visible external hardware elements otherwise have
> no corresponding in-desktop element. However, it is also a bit
> dangerous, since these items will look like files but really will be
> something completely different, therefore they might break the users
> conceptual model (what happens if you copy one to a remote share? Can
> you rename them? What happens if you drop one in the trash? What are
> their size? What happens if an application decides to load such a
> "file"?). 

Almost all of the "detail" information is different.  Printers have
queue sizes and status, not owners and modification dates.

> Implementation
> --------------

> Implementing "Computer" is probably done best as a vfs module,
> although it would rarely be used by other apps than nautilus (the
> important roots from computer are already exposed in the file
> selector). 

Well, ideally the roots would be exposed in the file selector the same
way they are exposed in nautilus, right?

> 
> "Network" is a bit hard, since it has to be a combination of data from
> various vfs backends. It needs some thinking, but I think its implementable.
> 
> Open Issues
> -----------
> 
> What about printers etc? "Computer" is essentially only "filesystems
> accessible on the computer" right now, but it *could* be extended to
> be more like a "hardware connected to the computer", although that
> makes network filesystems not fit in there as good, and introducing
> non-files in the filesystem is dangerous as noted above.

I tend to think that printers belong in a printer management dialog.

-dave