Thanks for your bug. You can get this option by using the middle click instead
of the left button to do the dnd action, does it solve your issue?

It does, thanks. However, I still feel that it might be preferable to make the
normal drag and drop for cut/copy uniform over multiple partitions and disks as
this can be confusing and troublesome for new users.

I don't think that having a list on every dnd would be efficiant. Cc usability
for getting their opinion on this

While having a list on every dnd *is* one solution, that wasn't what I was
suggesting in my last comment. I apologize if I was unclear.

I feel that it would be more intuitive to have dnd uniform whether it be on a
single partition or from one partition to another. Currently drag-and-dropping
from partition 1 to partition 2 copies the file. Whereas drag-and-dropping from
one place on partition 1 to another place on partition 1 cuts and copies the file.

To the lesser technically inclined user this makes little sense. Infact the user
may not even know that there are other partitions or drives if the user isn't a
system admin (ie corporate workstations).

Even if the default dnd behavior doesn't gain a menu like a had previously
suggested (though it would be nice if this could be set via gconf) I still feel
that the over-all, basic behavior should be the same no matter what the
partition or disk layout is; it shouldn't be a guessing game of whether or not
it is going to simply copy or cut and paste the file(s).

I hope that this clears up the suggestion that I was making and I apologize if I
wasn't clear enough in my previous posts. Thoughts?

I thought it was possible to change the "drop action" from the default by
clicking and holding Shift/Ctrl/Alt before dropping (on Win32 now, can't test)?

Yes, that works, and as noted above, you can also middle-drag or Alt-drag if you want a menu to pop 
up when you release the mouse button, to choose what to do.

The whole copy/move between volumes thing has been discussed a few times before...  basically it's 
the way most desktops work, so it's difficult to say whether changing it now would cause more 
problems than it solves (let alone decide what to change it to).   Some random references:

http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-gui-list/2000-August/msg00344.html

http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2004/11/12/256472.aspx

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac.advocacy/tree/browse_frm/thread/
c9322bb557d63df2/817ac6117fca7fa3?rnum=1&hl=en&_done=%2Fgroup%2Fcomp.sys.mac.advocacy%
2Fbrowse_frm%2Fthread%2Fc9322bb557d63df2%2Fac7accd51651127f%3Flnk%3Dst%26rnum%3D1%
26hl%3Den%26#doc_a4bb9722d2a38f01

To me, I would say that the default behaviour should be to move the file - this seems to be most intuitive since, in real life, when you pick something up and move it, you don't expect it to reproduce itself. On the other hand, making a mistake and moving a file is worse than making a mistake and copying a file (when you expected it to do the other).

Perhaps, when moving files, Nautilus could do it without complaint, but then show a list on drag and drops to other partitions, rather than just copying. The list could include move, copy, always move, always copy?

I know this is an old thread, but I have some thoughts about it.
May be it's not worth to change the default behavior or add context menu each time you dnd, but I think there should be an option in Edit->Preferences->Behavior like a checkbox "Cut files when Drag&Drop"?

The mouse cursor appearance now makes it pretty clear whether you are moving (arrow symbol) or copying (+ symbol) a file with dnd. 

>To me, I would say that the default behaviour should be to move the file - this seems to be most intuitive since, in real life, when you pick something up and move it, you don't expect it to reproduce itself.

Moving *is* the default behavior, copying is just an exception when you drag n drop files accross drives/partitions, so that you don't accidentally remove a file from your USB drive when you drop files on a friend's computer.


>basically it's the way most desktops work
Agreed. In addition, as dragging with right mouse button is currently unused, and middle-mouse drag is not so intuitive (many users i know do not even use the middle-mouse click), maybe we could have the popup menu also open when we drag files with the right mouse?

I'd file another bug for this, but can we close this one?

Thanks

Maybe the solution would be better visual feedback, as the cursor symbol is a bit subtle. Maybe use of notifications when moving to a different drive/partition, with a "remove original" option?

For reference, during drag n drop operations, windows 7 shows a tooltip next to the mouse cursor detailing the action that will take place when the user releases the mouse button (copy,move,create shortcut).

I personally find this useful and this would make a good enhancement suggestion, would solve the valid "cursor is a bit subtle" concern.

So, we should file bugs for:
 * [drag n drop] show a tooltip next to the cursor, indicating action (copy/move/link)
 * [drag n drop] Enable middle-mouse-button behavior for right-mouse-button

and close this one. Please feel free to file these requests.

First enhancement request filed at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=695071  [drag n drop] show a tooltip next to the cursor, indicating action (copy/move/link)

Second request filed at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=695072 [drag n drop] Enable middle-mouse-button behavior for right-mouse-button

Closing this one for clarity, feel free to open other bug reports for distinct feature requests.

Thanks