GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 144481
Right drag in place of Middle Drag
Last modified: 2005-07-14 07:38:53 UTC
Im fairly certain that this issue has been addressed but i wanted to see if there was any constructive reason that we use middle drag instead of right drag. - Problem - Currently if you left drag a file from 1 folder to another nautilus performs the default behavior for you (move if folders on same disk, copy if on different disks). If the user would like nautilus to ask him which option to perform middle drag is available/required. While i love this feature and have used it for quite sometime i dont understand why middle drag was selected. Many mice these days come with middle buttons that are clickable and users are able to right + left click to simulate it if theirs doesnt have one. However laptops do not ever have middle buttons and it is very awkward trying to press both and drag on the touchpad. - Solution - There are a number of reasons to switch this functionality that ill get to in the end but this is my proposed function: Left Click: select file/folder on click or on release Left Drag: perform default option (move/copy) Right Click: open context menu on release Right Drag: open move file/folder context menu The only changes are that the rt context menu doesnt come up until release and right drag is assigned the current duties of middle drag. - Drawbacks - Users used to right dragging to select context menu items will have to click one more time to select their action (or we can make the middle button replace old right drag functionality) - Benefits - Behavior is consistent and unified. Right Click and Right Drag bring up context menus asking you about what you want to do in your selecting/moving activity. Left Click and Left Drag perform the default options. Migration of users from Windows is easier because this approximates windows functionality. Many users dont have middle buttons on their mice. Even fewer know that they can use it. Lets relegate complex/advanced functionality to the unknown buttons. Plus have you ever seen a laptop user trying to press both mouse buttons and move a file using a touchpad. They look like they are having a seizure or using a Ouija board. - Conclusion - Im not suggesting eliminating the middle drag. It cam be left if desired. Or it can be converted int what the old right drag did. But i honestly think these changes will really help in efficiency and ease migration of other OS users to the gnome desktop.
User that don't have an easy access to (simulated) middle button can use the combination Alt+Right button to drag and drop and have an option menu to move, copy, link or cancel the operation. Shouldn't this be marked as resolved?
My concern wasn't in the inability to perform certain operations no matter how convoluted the process (Alt + Rt Button Drag is neigh impossibe on a touchpad mouse) but instead the reasoning for not providing the rt drag functionality to begin with. Im not saying XX can't be done but instead suggesting that XX can also be done in a way that helps users migrate from other desktops (and is just as if not more so efficient for a wide swath of the userbase). It is my belief that there are enough challenges for the new linux/gnome user. I think adding the right drag functionality is worth the costs outlined above.
This will break how context menus normally work. You don't expect the menu to pop up on release. The menu is availible both with alt+drag and middle drag. Or you could use the shift/ctrl modifiers to select what you want.
Until 2.0 version there were posibility to drag with right mouse button in Nautilus. It seems nautilus developers don't care nor about compatibility with other software, nor about compatibility with older version of nautilus...