Re: RFC: Common desktop-wide paths

[Maciej Katafiasz <mnews22 wp pl>]

Dnia 02-10-2004, sob o godzinie 11:33 +0200, Danilo Šegan napisał:
> > The home directory is the root of all things associated with the user.
> >  This includes stuff like configuration files and application data. 
> > This stuff shouldn't really be accessed directly by the user.  The
> > desktop folder is a folder that the user is free to play around with
> > and customise.
> 
> It's common that configuration files are hidden in $HOME, so this
> point seems moot.  Gnome already supports using $HOME for Desktop.

That's big, ugly hack, not support.

> We do not want user to know about "Desktop folder" or something.  If
> they can technically write someplace (i.e. $HOME), they should better
> know that (i.e. make $HOME be Desktop) or they'll blame mysterious
> forces or the system once they screw something up.

How can you screw anything by having $Desktop != $HOME? You have _less_
possibilities of playing around then. OTOH in case of $HOME == $Desktop
if something is not hidden (not all folders under $HOME are dotted,
and .hidden requires manual add) yet shouldn't be touched, and user
"cleans" it (since she didn't put it there), _then_ you have mysterious
screwup.

> In most cases I've seen, people tend to organize stuff relevant to
> their $HOME, not their "Desktop".  We already have option of hiding
> certain files (both using Unix way, or Nautilus way), what would
> render them unavailable for most users.  Why replicate all the
> functionality in Desktop, when we already have $HOME?

Because Desktop != $HOME. $HOME is root of user-writable space, it's not
meant to be presented as user's workplace in graphical way, nor is it
traditionally organized as such. I for one have lots of cruft in $HOME
(like ~/cvs/ for jhbuild checkouts, ~/opt/ for jhbuild target binaries,
~/bin/ for custom binaries overriding ones from /usr/bin/, and many,
many others) which should not be on desktop. It's just like real home
vs. desktop - home includes desktop, but is not equal to it. You don't
use your dekstop to prepare meals, do you? Shoehorning $HOME into
Desktop location is just silly.

> Of course, I'm not even close to any expert, so I understand that I
> may be utterly wrong somehow, but this still seems a technicality to
> me (implementation detail, keeping in mind that $HOME is already
> there; of course, "Desktop" is used on other systems such as KDE, so
> it's 1+ for it as well). 

That too.

Cheers,
Maciej

-- 
"Tautologizm to coś tautologicznego"
   Maciej Katafiasz <mnews2 wp pl>
       http://mathrick.blog.pl