Re: A proposition for devices and spatial Nautilus.

[Julien Olivier <julo altern org>]

Just a note to add that the "browser menu" should also be on the panel
to make it easier to reach if your desktop is fully covered by a
maximised application.

On Sun, 2003-09-21 at 13:26, Julien Olivier wrote:
> Here is a proposition that _might_ please everyone without being too
> different from the current situation:
> 
> - On the desktop, we should have:
>      * A .desktop file pointing to ~/ but renamed "Personal Files"
>      * A .desktop file pointing to computer:///, named "Computer, where
> you can see all your devices
>      * A .desktop file point to trash:///, named "Wastebasket".
> 
> - Those 3 .desktop files would of course be internationalized.
> 
> - Newly mounted devices don't appear on the desktop. But the
> notification area displays an icon representing the media mounted. If
> you click on this icon, it opens the mount point in a new Nautilus
> window. FIXME: Is the notification icon expected to disappear after a
> while ?
> 
> - If you open "Personal Files" in spatial Nautilus, the Desktop folder
> is hidden (to avoid the loop and to avoid having to find a solution
> about how to open the Desktop folder in spatial mode)
> 
> - ~/ contains several folders by default: Documents, Pictures, Movies,
> Music etc...
> 
> - Applications are encouraged to default to the folder that suits them
> best. For example, GIMP and gthumb would default to "~/Pictures" while
> Rhythmbox would default to "~/Music".
> 
> - The FOSD defaults to ~/Desktop and, thus, shows "Personal Files",
> "Computer" and all the user files/folders on the desktops (if any) but
> doesn't show launchers (except URLs) and the trash.
> 
> The advantages of this solution are: 
> 
> - ~/ stays the root for the user's documents (which is the UNIX way of
> doing things)
> 
> - The desktop is the root to all devices, documents etc...
> 
> - The "Home" folder being renamed "Personal Files", it's easier for the
> user to understand that it's a documents folder. I think very few people
> understand the "Home" metaphor, but I might be wrong.
> 
> - The desktop isn't cluttered by the system as mounted devices don't
> appear on it and automatically-generated folders are in the Home folder.
> So that lets the responsability of clutter to the user :)
> 
> Another important point, already discussed before in a few threads:
> 
> - If you right-click on the desktop or inside a Nautilus window or on a
> folder icon, you can see a "browser menu" showing the visible
> folders/VFS link available from the base dir. For example, if you
> right-click on the desktop, you have a menu entry in the context menu
> named "Go" or "Browse" containing "Personal Files" and "Computer" by
> default. It's a menu, so if you click or enter the "Personal Files"
> sub-menu, you see "Open this folder", "Paste here", a separator,
> "Music", "Pictures", "Videos" etc... Another example: if you right-click
> on the "Music" folder in ~/, you'll see "Browse", containing the list of
> your albums with the "Open this folder" and "Paste here" actions
> available for each one and their sub-folders.
> 
> - The "Open new window" option would then be removed from the desktop's
> context menu (being replaced by this browser menu).
> 
> - This "browser" menu could even be used for the copy/move/link action.
> For example, if you right-click on a file, you should have "Copy to ->",
> "Move to ->", "Link to ->" instead of the simple "Copy", "Move" and
> "Link" actions that don't make much sense for files (IMHO).
> 
> I think those browsing facilities are very much needed in the spatial
> Nautilus because it avoids the difficulties of open a very nested folder
> (opening loads of windows on the way to the wanted file/folder).
> 
> Note: I don't pretend to know better than everyone what's the best
> solution. I just described here what _I_ think would suit me the most.
> Feel free to say what you dislike, what isn't technically possible, what
> is stupid etc...
> 
> --
> Julien Olivier