Re: [Usability] Double-click feedback in Gnome

[Olav Vitters <olav bkor dhs org>]

On Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 05:38:29PM +0200, Aleve Sicofante wrote:
> Thanks for your reply Olav. Please find below mines.
> 
> 2008/8/8 Olav Vitters <olav bkor dhs org>:
> > On Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 05:14:56AM +0200, Aleve Sicofante wrote:
> >> I'm just astonished that not a single developer has taken the time to
> >> ask this question, so please don't consider this crossposting. No one
> >> replied there and after a reasonable amount of time, I'm bringing the
> >> question over here.
> >>
> >> I'm either asking something very obvious or developers don't give a
> >> damn about the issue.
> >
> > That is a bit narrow minded. Did you consider that you used a mailing
> > list that is not used much?
> Gnome has dozens of mailing lists. Where do developers hang? I just
> assumed that was the developers list...

desktop-devel-list is that mailing list. Probably the other one should
be closed or something.

> >> You can find a longer explanation below, but here's the briefing:
> >>
> >> Gnome does not provide feedback to make the user know a double-click
> >> has been received and an action is being taken. This happens just too
> >> many times. Clicking desktop folders keeps the user wondering and
> >> repeating the action several times. While less frequently, it happens
> >> as well inside Nautilus folders.
> >
> > That is not correct. GNOME does provide feedback.
> Please read again my post. GNOME does not _always_ provide feedback.
> Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt. It NEVER does when interfacing
> with desktop folders, which is in fact my main complaint.

I did read your post. I thought it was about launching applications from
folders. I am still not sure what it is about though.

> >> This is a 2003 bug that hasn't been resolved.
> >
> > The program being started has to support 'startup notification' If it
> > does, Nautilus *will* show feedback when an application is launched.
> > However, this depends on info in .desktop files. This could be
> > incomplete. If so, bugs should be filed.
> 1. Gnome should not require any third party application to do
> something that competes go Gnome. It should be easy to notify the user

Support from the application is a requirement to do proper notification.
The application has to tell the system that it has launched. This is the
startup notification library. IIRC this is shared with KDE (freedesktop)

> "a click/double-click has been received and the proper action has been
> taken", the proper action being "communicating the application that
> icon represents it must do something". From that point on, it's the
> application responsibility to give the user any further feedback. As I
> mentioned, a simple cursor animation would suffice most of the time.

Yeah, but when should the animation be stopped? In case of application
launches, it could be that your starting some fast app and the animation
should only last 0.5 secs. Perhaps your launching OpenOffice on a slow
pc.. will take 30seconds.

> 2. The application responsible for opening a desktop folder is
> Nautilus, a Gnome app. It does not give any feedback to the user.
> Nautilus does give feedback _sometimes_ when inside a folder, but not
> in the desktop.

For me if I click a text document on the desktop it does use startup
notification to launch gedit.

> 3. As Kalle and I pointed out already, this is a five year old bug.
> This is a serious usability bug. Do you have any idea why it hasn't
> been addressed at all?

Heh.. many answers: many bugs, not many developers. Priorities differ,
forgotten, etc.

-- 
Regards,
Olav