[Thunar-dev] Some UI Ideas

[Benedikt Meurer]

Adam Scheinberg wrote:
> I guess I didn't really understand the use of "simple" in simple file
> manager.  To me, file manager "bloat" refers to options that are
> rarely used or are used by a very small segment of the audience.  If
> something is used by most people and considered worthwhile, it's not
> bloat, it's substance.  Cutting down on bloat doesn't mean elimination
> of useful features.  Sure, I can live without, say, icon preview, but
> I don't consider it bloat.

Please try to avoid the term "bloat", it's just a buzzword. Try to focus 
on a technically correct terminology.

>>As it looks now the file manager will be navigational. The gtk file chooser can
>>hardly be called spatial, can it?
> 
> No, but I don't care for it either.  The whole buttons across the top
> is still kind of odd feeling.  It might be a trivial difference, but
> I'd rather see a non-buttoned text across the top showing the path,
> with each directory clickable.  Think hyperlink vs. button.  It might
> not be immediately obvious, but it also won't be so busy.  Plus, tree
> view on the side for sure.

I suspect you're talking about the way this is solved in GNOME 
Commander? If so, then let me disagree: I think it's not obvious to the 
user that the labels are clickable, whereas for buttons, it's obvious 
that they can be clicked.

>>Remember, our goal is not to make the perfect file manager. Our goal is to
>>make a very simple file manager that works well for basic file management
>>tasks.
> 
> Why? Perfect doesn't have to mean all encompassing... by why purposely
> leave out features that might useful? I've used Gnome and KDE on a
> hundred distros - since Eazel disappeared, they ALL use Nautilus and
> Konq respectively. Yet with XFCE, lots of people writing distros
> switch out XFFM.  Doesn't that suggest that maybe a more robust, less
> confusing FM would be useful?

Thats exactly the reason why Thunar focuses on simplicity and ease of use.

>>>1. The ability to preview text files in the icon, and preview audio with a hover
>>
>>Not sure this is within the scope of a simple file manager.
> 
> That could be true. It doesn't really comprimise much to give that up. 

While previewing text files within the icon makes sense to me, I doubt 
that automatic audio preview is really that useful to users. I guess 
it's one of the more confusing and annoying features in Nautilus.

>>>4. A "smart" view.  It should default to icons for a folder with only
>>>a few files, but list view when you're browsing a folder with lots of
>>>files.  If I choose a specific view, like "Detailed," it should
>>>remember that for that folder.
>>
>>A spatial feature ;-) One of the most confusing/annoying things in windows
>>explorer is how it sometimes does and at other times doesn't remember layout.
> 
> Spatial feature - blah.  Spatial can't have a monopoly on remembering
> window properties like view type.  But I get what you're saying, which
> is that only spatial stuff currently has that capability reliably.

I agree that this feature is confusing for a navigational file manager.

greets,
Benedikt