GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 324119
"Places", "Computer", "Go", "Desktop", WTFness
Last modified: 2007-08-17 10:45:21 UTC
Clicking Places on the panel gives me: Home Desktop (place bookmarks) - Computer 60.7 MB Removable Volume - Network Servers ("server" connections, FTP, SFTP, etc.) Connect to Server... - Search for Files... Recent Documents > Now, I can't make any sense of this. I click "Computer" and I get this: CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive CD-RW Drive Sony Eri Memory Stick: 60.7 MB Removable Volume ("server" connections, FTP, SFTP, etc.) Filesystem Network All items of size, "..." and type "desktop configuration file". Date modified "unknown" octal permissions "444". WTF. Just WTF. What a mess. No offense, but seriously, I am embarassed to be preaching about our desktop to my mates when I hit this "computer" thing. I think we need a "Browse"/"Browser" location instead. It makes more sense than "Computer". When I click on something called "Computer" I reckon I'll be able to see my resource usage, see my user accounts, see my network connections - not this silly half-arsed POS! So, under "Computer"/"Browser" I'd at least like to see my Home folder and my Desktop, too, please. The guessing game as to where things are that we have ATM is really quite annoying and far from intuitive. Throw Nautilus' "Go" menu into it, too, and it seems everything is just hidden away in obscure locations. I think we should attack a plan to sort this mess out. My personal opinion is that the Desktop should be just that, once again. I mean Windows XP went down the right route. My real, physical desktop at work is somewhere I put things I am working on /right now/. If I don't want them anymore, I file them away or throw them in the bin. This is exactly what Windows Explorer's desktop provides me with. Nothing but a trash can. Genius. I don't know why my "server" connections show up on my desktop by default, considering they are just supposed to be bookmarks. I just don't get why they belong on the desktop, nor Computer, nor Home folder. We have this Places menu thing now (which I do think is a good idea)! Yes, it's configurable to turn off Volumes and other icons through GConf, but it should be default. Ubuntu has the right idea and they've done just that. Other information: *** This bug report was brought to you by my "Getting Linux un-fucked" bug-filing rampage. Sorry if it seems stupid or offends. ***
I couldn't agree more :) The locations menu in the panel is inconsistent with the locations sidebar in nautilus, the go menu and the filechooser as well. It definately needs some love. Seems like a nice job for the usability team.
Agreed. Personally I'd recommend taking leaves from Apple's book - the Finder's sidebar is perfectly tuned to what we need.
Can you take a screenshot? Don't have access to a (modern) Mac.
Created attachment 58402 [details] Finder sidebar example
I agree with this, the go menu has particularly annoyed me. Mainly because the CD burner and the network are not things that should be hidden away up there.
Changed to enhancement. Computer is just that, same as with Windows, a place with folders, drives, locally mapped network shares. If you want something that gives a quick overview with one click try the SLAB applet for the gnome taskbar that ships in SLED 10.
The Nautilus Go menu is now gone, and Nautilus now has a Places menu. There's probably been a few other reorganizations since this was filed. Also, filing bugs for "WTFness" is no way to improve things. If you think there are still issues, I suggest that you open a new bug with the up-to-date status and some up-to-date suggestions for specific improvements, politely and simply.