Re: [Usability] Hide the Desktop folder

[Uno Engborg <uno webworks se>]

Thilo Pfennig wrote:

Am Mittwoch, den 24.08.2005, 00:01 +0200 schrieb Uno Engborg:

  

This means that a user using an internationalized version of Gnome may 
not realize that
he is deleting his desktop if he deletes the "Desktop" folder.
    

I am using a german GNOME and here it is named "Desktop".

I do not agree with your points at all. Until GNOME can not update the
contents of the Desktop folder on the Desktop immediately it is
essential to be able to open that folder and update it by hand. And I
also think it should be a standard place in the future in file openers,
the places menu, etc. . It is not such a big deal to see files twice.
The Desktop itself is not a spatial window of Nautilus.


Thilo

  

What you are saying is a little like: We can't fix bug X, because of bug Y
even though bug X potentially can fool users into loosing data.

You are right. We would probably need an "Update" entry in the desktop
RMB-menu. Or even better, make sure update never is needed.

I also agree with you that "Desktop" is needed as a shortcut in in file dialogs.

That doesn't mean that we have to show the desktop folder twice. If you
chose the "Desktop" in the "Places" menu, one possibility would be get the same result
as in clicking the show desktop applet in the panel. The problem with this is that we introduce
a state that may not be obvious to the user. One way to make such state more visible
would be to add a check mark to the Desktop entry in the places menu. The check mark
should go away when the users selects the Desktop menu item a second time or when
he opens another window. That too, may be a lttle confusing.

Perhaps the best solution after all, is to not show "Desktop" in the places menu, but show
it as a shortcut place in filedialogs.

Speaking of the translation of "Desktop", this is obviously a mess.
In my Swedish Ubuntu Breezy, Desktop it is translated differently in different places.
Someplaces it is called "Hem", somplaces it is called "Hemmamapp" and someplaces
it is not translated at all.

Regards
Uno Engborg