Joshua A. Andler-2 wrote:
"Preserve shape" = "Preserve approximate look of the path", not "Preserve segment type" or "Preserve node type".
Well, this is your interpretation.
No, it's actually very accurate for the intended meaning of the word shape in that context. It's to preserve the shape of an object as best as possible when removing a node.
Saying that "Preserve shape" means "to preserve the shape of an object as best as possible" doesn't add anything to this discussion. There's nothing new from "Preserve approximate look of the path". And it's not "very accurate", it's simply as subjective as before. It seems to me that the problem is: what is "shape"?
Probably if we are talking about curved lines, the problem is dummy and we all agree. But when coming to straight lines it's different. What does mean "preserve the shape when removing a node from a segmented path"? Is it for sure: "make some segments become curved lines"? I see no accuracy in this interpretation. To me, if I remove a node from a rectangle, it becomes a triangle, not a mix of straight and curved lines that nobody would define similar to a rectangle. The problem is that you cannot preserve the shape of a segmented path when you delete a node so having this behavior as default looks very, very strange to me.
About user's preference: I do technical drawing and I expect that removing a node from an ellipse converted to a path keeps all nodes smooth and keeps the overall shape as much similar as possible to the original one. Just like (you say) artistic users do. On the other hand, I'm not sure that artistic users do expect the current behavior on straight paths.
And I'm not concerned about the ctrl-alt-shift-tab-esc click: when modifiers are involved, you can always learn to use the correct one, whatever it be. The problem is when you press "del" (or "canc"), that is the default way to delete something. Again, there are other graphical programs out there: is it evil taking a look at what they do?
Anyway, I'm not going any further in this discussion until someone else will support my opinion. If I'm alone there's no point in insisting. I don't want to force my point of view at any cost. Maybe, if you think it helps, I could open a new bug report in Launchpad, just to collect more opinions.
Thanks. Luca