some comments on gmc

[Mark Galassi <rosalia cygnus com>]

I have a few comments to make on gmc.  I think all of them should be
addressed for the 1.0 release.

All my comments apply to a complete update/build within the last 12
hours.

** I get the impression that many things are unimplemented or out of
   sync with the current glib/gtk+.  I get *tons* of messages to
   stderr all the time.  The greatest barrage is when I delete a
   directory: I think it's trying to put up a progress bar but gets
   lots of failed assertions instead, thus slowing things down a lot.

** Most of the dialogs seem to be modal when that is unnecessary.  Is
   this because of the curses heritage, where there was only one point 
   of input?

** When I deleted 12 files by selecting them with an M2 rectangle and
   then using M3 to bring up a menu and chosing "delete", it first
   asks me if I really want to delete 12 files.  When I say yes it
   brings up a (modal) dialog saying that "some of the files you are
   trying to copy already exist in the destination folder" and giving
   me some options.  Sounds like a switch() bug.

** I just noticed that that also happens if I try to delete a single
   file with the M3 menu.

** Hmm: this is getting scary.  It also happens with the File menu,
   and I just noticed that it still asks if I want to delete *12*
   files even though I have de-selected them and now only have *1*
   file selected.  Removing files that were not requested would be a
   serious bug.

** If I click on a .html file it brings up gEdit.  I would like to
   reconfigure it to bring up emacs with html-helper mode, but I could 
   not find out how to.

** If I click on a .tar.gz file I expect it to be treated as a normal
   part of the file system, but I don't see that happening.

** There used to be a way of exploring an ftp filesystem.  I don't see
   it anymore.  I think that a nice way of doing it would be to have a
   standard file manager icon you can click on, maybe in the tree
   view, or in the root directory.  I don't like the former way of
   doing it with a menu option.  Once created, network links (or any
   file systems that do not have obvious filesystem representations)
   could be placed in a special folder, similar to the trash can.

** When I use M3 on a file and select "open with", I am confused by
   the prompt "Enter extra arguments".  I think it should say "what
   program do you want to use to open <filename>", and then maybe
   offer a more advanced way of using a complex command string with a
   "%s" in it for <filename> or something.

** Double clicking M1, the most basic of operations, should do a
   Mac-like thing (open the file, or run the program).  On normal
   files it gives these messages to stderr but does nothing:
Icon list select icon, event->type= 4 4 5
Icon list select icon, event->type= 7 4 5
Icon list select icon, event->type= 5 4 5
Icon list select icon, event->type= 4 4 5
Icon list select icon, event->type= 7 4 5
   On directories it also does nothing (although M2 single-click on
   directories is nice: it opens a new gmc browse window).  On
   programs it seems to work, although popping up a quickie window
   with stdout/stderr would be nice: right now the output goes to the
   window from which I invoked panel, which is bogus if you run from
   .xsession.

That's it for now: I was just trying some of the things I expect to
find in a file manager and didn't find them.

Overall, gmc is way way better and looks much better than a few months 
ago.