zim-wiki team mailing list archive

[Dotan Cohen <dotancohen@xxxxxxxxx>]

> But there is exactly my point, settings, profiles and caches go in
> hidden directories, data does not. In my view settings are more or
> less expandable - sure you do not want to loose them easily, but if
> you do you can re-create them fairly easily. Data on the other hand is
> much more valuable.
>

Are your email messages data? Where does Evolution store them?

Files that are meant to be opened from within a particular application
should not be visible in the file manager. If Zim notebooks were
single files as opposed to folders with many files inside, and these
single files could be clicked on then opened with Zim, then I would
understand the reasoning for keeping them visible. But as it stands,
the user has no reason to poke around in the Zim folder.


> I think the precedent for putting data in hidden folders was created
> by email clients. Probably this happened because the email was not
> considered stored data, but more like a cache of the data that lives
> on the server. I for one still like my email client to store emails
> under "~/Mail".
>

I see that you anticipated my reply! I should learn to read the whole
message first! However, would you argue that you are the typical user
in this regard? If Zim is meant only to scratch your itch, and it
would be fine if it is, then by all means make your preference the
default for the application. But if you identify that your personal
preference goes against established and expected behaviour, then make
your preference optional.

I really hope that I am not being rude, that is not my intent. I am
just trying to make Zim a good application for the average Joe. I
really appreciate your work and I respect your decisions.


> Yes I agree that good defaults make a program more user friendly. But
> hiding data from the user in my opinion does not.
>

The question is why would the user want to see this data? The only
argument that I have seen is for backup purposes, and if the user is
not backing up hidden directories then he is likely to loose a lot in
addition to his Zim notebooks. Email, Web browser bookmarks, all his
contacts and calendar, virtual machines, all his settings and
preferences, etc.


-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://what-is-what.com
http://gibberish.co.il