Re: Nautilus design choices redux

[Reinout van Schouwen <reinout cs vu nl>]

> What are the advantages of inline views over external views?

- the user doesn't have to be bothered with knowing which app to use to
view what content. [this is only partially true when the right app is
launched automatically; still (s)he will have to get used to that apps'
own GUI. For instance: GGV's zoomfactor widget differs from Nautilus'.]

> What are the advantages of external views over inline views?

- as long as a lot of filetypes aren't supported as internal view it is
inconsistent to open some filetypes inline and some externally. [note that
consistency is a vague concept and not the holy grail; it could well be
that the advantages outweigh this disadvantage.]

> What are the advantages of opening subfolders in place over opening them
> in a new window?

- reduces "Fenstersalat" (beautiful German word for extreme desktop
clutter) and thus, confusion. Case in point: my father, when first
presented with a WIMP GUI, couldn't distinguish one window from
another.[1]

> What are the advantages of opening subfolders in a new window over opening
> them in place?

I can't think of any.


[1] I've given up trying to learn him how to use the computer not long
after that. :)

-- 

Reinout van Schouwen			Artificial Intelligence student
email: reinout cs vu nl			mobile phone: +31-6-44360778
GPG public key http://www.cs.vu.nl/~reinout/reinout.asc