This was done on purpose :

2004-08-27  Alexander Larsson  <alexl@redhat.com>
                                                                               
                                                   
        * src/file-manager/fm-directory-view.c:
        (can_use_component_for_file), (reset_bonobo_open_with_menu):
        Don't show the open with menus for folders, nautilus links or
        when there are multiple items selected.
 
Can you explain why you need to do such a thing ?

I thought it was a useful feature. I had eog, easytag and xmms in the
directory's open with menu. You can use it for actions that apply to all files
in one directory like viewing all images, tagging all ogg files or adding them
to the xmms playlist. I don't understand why it was removed.

This makes sense. Confirming.

The same applies to multiple items. I think it would be very convenient to be
able to select, say, 4 mp3 files, right-click on them and choose "Open with xmms".

*** Bug 152984 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

we are agree that it's a convenient feature. So why was it removed ? is there
any patch to reactive it ?
It's really strange to see the "open with" tab whereas the values are not used
... I think it's just a mistake, so it should be corrected in a future release,
shouldn't it ?

Note that this feature can also create problematic situations, e.g. by making it
impossible to open folders with nautilus itself (bug 141466). So a middle-ground
solution needs to be implemented.

*** Bug 153250 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Wouldn't it then be a good idea, if the standard action for objects
of type 'x-directoy/*' would always be 'open in nautilus'?

Any program should be able to add a menu-item to the context menu to do this
sort of thing (I think) by installing a nautilus extension. For doing a
'terminal here' sort of thing, you can install nautilus-open-terminal
(http://pkg-gnome.alioth.debian.org/debian/pool/n/nautilus-open-terminal/) for
which there is not any RPMs yet (but I will be packaging one for fedora3 if no
one else does..).

*** Bug 154799 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Matthew: I strongly recomment against packaging that extension. I've actually
never fixed any of its leaks. On the bug: While I understand that installing a
nautilus extension is an option, simply adding the directory MIME association to
your desired application's desktop file is *way* more convenient and will
improve DE interoperability. Extensions should in my opinion only be used for
more sophisticated actions (making archives, etc.).

Christian, that will not work with folders now. That is the rub.

*** Bug 159190 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Unless this feature gets added again, perhaps it's best to also disable the
"Open With"-tab for folders?
As it is now, being able to add applications for folders, but not actually use
them, is very confusing.

Sven: do you think you could file a separate bug for that? I agree that is
irritating.

Filed as bug 162812
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=162812

I also used this feature regularly and am disappointed to see it gone.  It was
much more convenient to right-click folders for xmms or easytag than to drag
them into xmms (or navigate with easytag). Please consider restoring it.

*** Bug 154847 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Yet more use-cases: gthumb used to associate itself with directories so I could
do a slide-show, rotate, etc.  Meld associates with directories so you can start
meld  in CVS mode to view/edit your local changes.

Alex: Maybe you could tell us why you decided to remove this feature.
Sometimes I also want to operate on folders with applications different from
nautilus.

I don't quite remember the details, but mime registrations for the folder
mimetype was causing problems in some way (not letting you open nautilus windows
for it or suchlike), so support for that was disabled.

I'm not sure why the open-with menu died too though. I can see that being useful
for folders, and I can't immediately see why it would break stuff.

right, this is still an issue. Add x-directory/normal to MimeType field, try to
open a place in the Places menu in gnome-panel and you get the app instead of
nautilus

I enabled the open with menu again.