Re: Theory question on desktop and gmc

[Michael ROGERS <M Rogers cs ucl ac uk>]

>> The desktop can't behave exactly like a directory - for one thing, mouse
>> actions will be different since window managers are going to want to steal
>> some of the mouse clicks for themselves.
>
>On the other hand, a special case like that ("Well, for normal directories
>and gmc, click with the right mouse-button, but on the desktop you put the
>mouse over the icon and control-alt-meta-click with the F17 key..." :)
>just seems awkward.

True. This could be fixed by having menus, etc called up when the mouse
button is released, not pressed... so you could have these mouse button
bindings for the desktop and file manager windows:

Left-click on an icon selects it, clearing any existing selection.
Middle-click on an icon selects it, adding to any existing selection.
Right-click on an icon brings up its context menu.

Left-click on the desktop could be passed to the WM.
Middle-click on the desktop could be passed to the WM.
Right-click on the desktop brings up its context menu.

Left-drag on an icon moves it.
Middle-drag on an icon is user-defined (move, copy or link).
Right-drag on an icon brings up a menu (move, copy or link).

Left-drag on the background draws a selection box, clearing any existing
selection.
Middle-drag on the desktop draws a selection box, adding to any existing
selection.
Right-drag on the desktop could be passed to the WM.

This allows consistent behaviour between the desktop and FM windows, which
kind of deflates my previous argument.  :)  Maybe an integrated desktop and
file manager are good after all.  :)

>I'm thinking.. yes, all these links can be henious, but the ability to
>type some random address into mini-commander and have Netscape open would
>be very useful, if only netscape loaded in less than three minutes.

I like the suggestion of just typing on the desktop, instead of using
mini-commander or a terminal.

>> Desktop shortcuts to directories and devices are useful.  (Panel
>> launchers provide the same functionality as Windows application
>> shortcuts so desktop shortcuts to applications aren't needed)
>
>Well, you can put directories on the panel, so desktop shortcuts to
>directories and devices aren't needed. :)

Absolutely - the panel does the things the Windows desktop does, in a more
sensible way, so why imitate the Windows desktop as well?

>> A desktop cluttered with random files is not useful
>
>So why does every app start with cwd=~/.gnome-desktop, and try to save all
>its data files there? (including netscape downloads and the like...)

Because they are trying to drive me insane...


Michael Rogers