Re: [Ayatana] Default to single click to open files and folders

[Jan-Christoph Borchardt <inquata@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 13 May 2010 11:29, Alex Lourie <djay.il@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> So how would a simple selection be solved? If I want to select a file or a
> folder, I single-click on it.

Currently, it is implemented by Ctrl + click. Not the best solution,
but double clicking for opening a file is much much worse.


> If this behavior changes, then A LOT of people will have to change their
> behavior.
> So if changing this hurts more people than helps, I'd say it requires a lot
> of thinking ahead.

That is the difference between intuitive and learnt interfaces.


On 13 May 2010 15:00, Frederik Nnaji <frederik.nnaji@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 14:17, Diego Moya <turingt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> On 13 May 2010 14:08, Thorsten Wilms wrote:
>> > if opening is not the
>> > most common action on files or folders, I would suggest something is
>> > going wrong).

+1


>> There will be (short) sessions when opening is the most common action,
>> but then there are also sessions where selecting - for copying,
>> moving, renaming - is the most common action.
>>
>> Actually I'd dare to say that the most frequent usage of the file
>> manager is the second one. The preferred way to open files and
>> applications in the modern desktop is through the top menus and
>> instant-search tools like Gnome-DO. So why should "open" supposed to
>> be the most common action? I don't think that assumption is true.
>
> honestly, please name the use cases for file operations.

Second that. Files are not for renaming and ordering, but for using them.

> i want to see thumbs for photos, not filenames.
> i want to read metadata (artist, album, title, artwork) for songs.
> other stuff should have titles or other forms of identification, not
> filenames.
> filenames are, nowadays, something to handle automagically; and with them
> the absolute path of the respective file.

Absolutely +1. Coverflow, folder thumbnails and digital picture frames
(and, well, the iPad) are prime examples of this.



Conscious User <conscioususer@xxxxxxx>
> Which, again, is another argument *against* single-click to open
> rather than *for* it. If the usual way of dealing with files is
> supposed to be *not* via a filebrowser, then it's reasonable to
> assume that when using a filebrowser actions *other* than simple
> opening will be frequent.

What is the primary tool that the system provides to users to look at
their files? It may not be supposed to do it, but that does not matter
because it is done anyway.

But I agree in some way: »File manager« in itself is a really broken
concept. Users really don’t care about managing (e. g. renaming) their
files – why do they have a computer anyway?


> It's "better" if you accept that single-clicking is the best
> solution, which is what I am questioning. Why should I shift
> my focus on working around problems on a certain path, if I'm
> yet not convinced that such path is the best one?

Because you have to see it from a user’s point of view: Why would I
double click? As Luke Morton said: »As a final thing to consider: if
no-one ever told you to double-click, how would you know to do so?«