Re: CD Writing Proposal

[Benjamin Kahn <xkahn ximian com>]

On Fri, 2004-05-28 at 22:10 +0200, Thorsten Wilms wrote:
> On Fri, May 28, 2004 at 03:18:31PM -0400, Benjamin Kahn wrote:
> > I'm interested in comments.  The latest proposal is available at:
> > http://www.zoned.net/~xkahn/nautilus-cd-burning 
> > There are also glade and GIMP files there and more mockup images.

> > The current system has a number of potential problems: 
> > 
> >       * The disk being created isn't tied to a particular blank CD, it's
> >         based on an idea of disk images, a somewhat foreign concept to
> >         most users.

> But stuff will not be directly written to CD. The possible misinterpretation 
> of the CD Creator's content being directly the CD's content should be 
> countered.
> The user might want to write the same data more than once.
> Tying the 'disk' to a particular blank CD would be totaly artificial.

	I'm not sure why this is a problem.  There are artificial abstractions
all over the place in computers.  A good abstraction helps users
understand the interface they are using.

	However, I agree that some people may want to create multiple copies of
a CD.  My proposal removes a very simple way of doing that because it
violates the abstraction I'm trying to create.  However, it wouldn't be
impossible.  The steps would look like this:

     1. Start the Nautilus CD burner. (Either through the menus, or
        through the Places menu.)
     2. Click the "Create a Disk Image" button in the dialog which
        appears and select the media size.
     3. Assemble the files as usual.
     4. "Writing" the files has the effect of closing the disk image.
     5. From then on, copying the ISO to a blank CD writes that image.

This is certainly more steps than is required now.  Although I think
this is an uncommon case, the dialog showing a successful CD burn could
allow users to insert another blank CD...

> > When a blank CD is inserted into the drive, a dialog should appear to
> > guide the user to the next step.  A blank CD icon should also appear on
> > the desktop.  Double clicking on this icon will open the Nautilus CD
> > Creator window for this media.
> 
> But when I already opened the CD Creator by other means, _nothing_ should 
> happen when I insert a blank medium (besides checking/reporting medium size).

	Do you really believe that nothing should happen when you perform a
physical action like inserting a blank CD?  I agree that the "What do I
do now" dialogs can be annoying, but surely creating a blank CD icon on
the desktop is the least that can be done?

> > The user can select an action from the menu which is dynamically
> > generated from the list of applications declaring themselves CD burners.
> 
> I don't think it's wise to specificialy support to have several apps for one 
> task. There should be one sensible default. If a user wants to use some special 
> burning app, he should just run it.
> 
> The dialog you propose is full of problems. Easiest to solve them by not  
> having such a dialog.

	I'm uneasy about choosing the one true default for CD burning.  What
happens if the user installs 5 CD burning applications?  Shouldn't all 5
of those be treated equally?

> > It is obviously possible to get to the Nautilus CD Creator without
> > inserting a blank CD.  And this should be easier to find -- a menu item
> > for it should appear in the Programs menu.  (Probably under Accessories,
> > but Office or System Tools are viable options as well.)  If no blank CD
> > has been inserted in ANY CD recorders, a dialog asking the user to
> > insert a blank CD should appear.
> 
> The user should not be asked to insert a CD, before it has to be.
> Because interupting his actions should be avoided.

	Well, at this point the user has to either have blank media, or needs
to pick an image size.  The dialogs could be combined so there is only
one, not two.

> > The Nautilus CD Creator window should default to the list view so file
> > sizes appear.  The status bar should show the amount of free space
> > remaining on the drive.  Attempts to copy files exceeding the size of
> > the blank media should result in a standard out of disk space message.
> 
> I would prefer space to be used instead of free space. No need for me 
> to tell the app what CD size I will use. But I admit that's just me, 
> might not be a good thing for unexperienced users. Just make sure a 
> size request the user can't answer will not be a dead end.

	There's nothing stopping users from having multiple images active at
once.

> > If the media really is ejected and not written to disk first, the
> > assembled file links will be removed.  Thus Eject is a destructive
> > operation and should have a confirmation.  In fact, the same dialog will
> > appear, but with an additional eject button.
> 
> There should be a way to save data collections.

	Why?