[Usability]Re: Nautilus preferences proposal

[David Emory Watson <dwatson cs ucr edu>]

On Sun, 2002-04-28 at 16:24, Alex Larsson wrote:
> On 28 Apr 2002, David Emory Watson wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, 2002-04-28 at 15:59, Dave Bordoley wrote:
> > > The problem is that nautilus isn't a web browser, it could be, I really
> > > really hope it can be one, but right now it's just not. The primary
> > > purpose of nautilus is a file browser. 
> > 
> > My conception of nautilus: it is a framework for viewing things.  The
> > fact that things in UNIX are "files" is not important.  What is
> > important is that nautilus allows the user to view and access data.  The
> > location of that data (i.e. local or remote) should not be relevant.
> 
> I agree with this in part. But it is not only about viewing things. It's 
> also about managing files. Copying them, renaming them, moving them, 
> arranging them etc. We need to concentrate on these parts to, if we are 
> ever gonna be an alternative to just using the shell.

Absolutely.  And if we ever reach a point where managing data conflicts
with viewing data (whether for functional reasons or a lack of developer
resources) then we might have to make some pretty tough choices.  :( 
Fortunately I don't think that this has happened yet.  :)

Either way, you were right on the mark when you said awhile ago: this is
definitely post 2.0 material...

> > > One day it would be nice, if we could integrate the excellent web
> > > browsing features of galeon into nautilus. But i don't see that
> > > happening for a long time.
> > 
> > Fair enough, but I still don't this (i.e. nautilus's lack of web
> > browsing ability) as a serious enough usability problem to go and start
> > ripping out features.
> 
> I agree. Although the news sidebar is so inherently dependent on the web 
> view that its basically useless without one.
>  
> > > perhaps a solution to avoiding the misconception by users that nautilus
> > > is a web browser is to turn off the location bar by default. This may
> > > clear things up a little since it will resemble macos finder a little
> > > bit more.
> > 
> > I use the location bar quite often (tab completion is great! :) so I
> > would be generally opposed to this idea.  Another (easily fixable)
> > problem would be that the location bar is currently the only way to know
> > what directory your viewing in (e.g. think about the case where you have
> > multiple directories all named foo)
> 
> I use the location bar all the time too.
>  
> -- 
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>  Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
>                    alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
> He's a lonely albino card sharp looking for a cure to the poison coursing 
> through his veins. She's a manipulative blonde bounty hunter who dreams of 
> becoming Elvis. They fight crime! 
> 
> -- 
> nautilus-list mailing list
> nautilus-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/nautilus-list
>