Re: SV: [Nautilus-list] Desktop folder

[Joe Shaw <joe ximian com>]

On Wed, 2002-03-20 at 14:59, Tuomas Kuosmanen wrote:
>     Please, no. :-)
>     
>     The desktop directory should just be easily accessible from file
>     selectors.  KDE got it right by calling it ~/Desktop.
> 
> Maybe I am stupid but I really dont see good reasons why it wouldnt be a
> good idea. Using it for a year, and it still makes sense, mind you. And
> I use the desktop a _lot_. But I understand people who dont want files
> on the desktop as well. People like Iain and you clearly use the desktop
> for different purpose, thus it makes a lot of sense to keep it
> configurable. Whatever the default is should not matter for "power
> users" anyway since one can just configure it.

I don't think it's a good idea for $HOME to be the default desktop,
although I definitely think it should be configurable, here's why:

My personal feeling is that my desktop is for launchers, links, etc.,
and my home directory is my "dumping ground" for a bunch of stuff.  I
recently cleaned up my home directory and it's still 110 entries, and
40+ of them are directories.  I would argue that many users are like me
and dump their junk in $HOME.  And I don't want a bunch of .desktop
files cluttering up my $HOME.

Consider the first-time user, starting up GNOME: If they've been using
KDE, or whatever, and the first time they log in they have icons -all
over- their desktop, which is supposed to be simple and basic, they'll
have a terrible first impression of GNOME.  If they don't spend the time
looking for an option to turn it off (they probably won't, it likely
won't even occurred to them) and it's not obvious how to get rid of the
desktop icons altogether (it's not), then they may stop using GNOME
altogether.  The default should be the option that makes sense for the
majority of the users and cater to the lowest denominator (if it's
reasonable).  If an advanced user wants $HOME as a desktop, that's fine,
but make them look for it.  

I'm all for making it a configurable option, but I don't think it's a
big problem as long as we clearly distinguish the difference between
one's home directory and one's desktop.  Windows seems to do this just
fine, so I don't think it's a big usability problem.  (Although it can
be difficult figuring out where exactly your home is on the file
system)  I also think that icons which take you to your home directory
or the desktop, like in the Ximian file selector, also go a long way.

Joe