Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 17, 2018 16:44 UTC (Wed) by nybble41 (subscriber, #55106)
In reply to: Bro becomes Zeek by adam820
Parent article: Bro becomes Zeek

And there's a reason why this is one of the very first things I always disable on a new install. There are dozens of different applications for managing files; the one I'm looking for is called "Nautilus", not "Files". I'm looking for "The GIMP", not "Image Editor".

An application's proper and *unique* name should be front-and-center. Its description, for those who have never run it before, can be hinted at in a tooltip or smaller, low-contrast text. Hiding the real names of things keeps users dependent on the desktop environment to pick the "best" app in each category (why does "Files" refer only to Nautilus and not Dolphin or Thunar or emelFM2?), creates unnecessary confusion when there is more than one option available, and discourages users from learning how things work under the hood. If you want to start a file manager from the command line, for example, just knowing that the DE calls it "Files" isn't going to get you very far. You're not doing beginners any real favors by optimizing the UI to *keep* them at the beginner level.

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 17, 2018 18:35 UTC (Wed) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link] (6 responses)

> If you want to start a file manager from the command line

The Laconic Reply to Philip of Macedon applies :)

On Windows I start a file manager by pressing Win-E.

On Linux, I start one so rarely that I do not want to waste brainspace on remembering what the bloody thing is called.

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 17, 2018 20:15 UTC (Wed) by nybble41 (subscriber, #55106) [Link] (5 responses)

The file manager was just one example; still, some file managers are more suited than others for particular tasks. Some might be better at managing local files while others offer advanced network filesystem support or transparent access to files within archives; one includes multi-file renaming while another has advanced integrated search. Even on Windows there are alternatives to Explorer, though they're not as common. Once one progresses beyond the beginner level it is not unheard-of to use more than one file manager (or image editor, or text editor), at which point over-simplified labels like "Files" only get in the way.

The main thing is that, IMHO, users should be able to recognize and recall the real names of the apps they're using when they see them outside the desktop's application menu, whether that be at the command-line, in the distro package manager, or on some online forum looking for support or reporting a bug.

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 18, 2018 7:44 UTC (Thu) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (4 responses)

So what do you call your photo manager? Even in Windows you have lightroom and photoshop, which are aimed at different bits of the workflow.

When I want to manage my photos, I typically use Picasa. When I want to work with them, I use the Gimp. If they're both called "Photo Manager", what am I supposed to do ... ?

Cheers,
Wol

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 19, 2018 1:16 UTC (Fri) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link] (3 responses)

If the desktop is presenting Gimp as a “Photo Manager” (or worse, making it the default program for photos when you've no intention of editing them), that's a defect in the desktop.

And an all-too-common one, unfortunately; programs can't sanely offer to handle the inode/directory MIME type as input any more because some DEs have decided that makes them general-purpose file managers. Real fun when you try to open the browser's download folder and the DE decides to dump every file in it into your media player…

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 23, 2018 16:05 UTC (Tue) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (2 responses)

And my desktop (KDE) now seems to randomly allocate applications to mime types, although I've had to fight the exact same problem on windows ...

Iirc I had great fun trying to fix gwenview complaining that it didn't have a clue how to open a pdf ...

Cheers,
Wol

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Oct 30, 2018 6:39 UTC (Tue) by flussence (guest, #85566) [Link] (1 responses)

At least, unlike Windows, we don't have the problem of .exe files losing their default association. I've heard it does happen sometimes.

Bro becomes Zeek

Posted Nov 1, 2018 0:40 UTC (Thu) by zlynx (guest, #2285) [Link]

I think that's already happened in Gnome. I actually haven't tried it recently but I've been told Nautilus (File Manager) will not launch executables of any kind by double-clicking them. They have to be .desktop files from known locations, apparently.