RFC: Thoughts on the run dialog.

[Ed McKenzie <eem12 cornell edu>]

Hello, all,

I've always thought of the Run dialog in GNOME as less useful of a
launcher than its Windows counterpart, mostly because it can only run
programs. Under Windows, the Run dialog can start programs as well as
open documents or start browsing local or remote locations -- in all
cases, Explorer looks up the file extension in the Registry and decides
what to do with it. Two points for discussion:

- Is this something to shoot for in next-generation GNOME from a
usability standpoint, and

- In what ways can the Windows design be made better?  Dealing with the
choice of multiple document handlers is something Microsoft didn't deal
with at all, in particular whether the user wants to open the location
embedded in Explorer or in a standalone application.

Letting the user run http://wherever/document.ps from the Panel and have
it open in Nautilus or some other application is, IMHO, something a
network desktop should be able to do with ease.

-- 
Ed McKenzie
<eem12 cornell edu>