On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 13:10:30 +0000, Mike Hearn <mike@...333...> wrote:
I guess I should re-iterate that the reason this was done is because the GNOME guys want to eliminate file paths from the UI a la MacOS Classic.
As anybody who has ever tried to explain what ~/ or /mnt/net/homes/d20xt3 is to a non-technical user can appreciate, hiding the UNIX filing system is probably wise ...
I don't want to start a flamewar, but I still think it's an incredibly stupid idea. "Non-technical" users are NOT INTERESTED in what ~/ means. They are well aware of the fact that this computer thing has some stuff they do not understand, so they don't mind if it's cryptic sometimes. All they want is some way to get the result they need quickly and reliably every time. They are not obsessed with "understanding" every step they are making, so long as it works. And the filename field is a powerful shortcut that lets you get to the result much faster, especially for people who remember words better than pictures (and there are plenty of such people even among non-technical users) and for those who know how to use copy/paste (which is also far from uncommon among users of any kind).
So, even for non-technical users, this "improvement" is dubious at best. For the rest of us, it's a disaster, plain and simple.