Comments on: GNOME 3.0 Ideas (Intelligent Desktop)

By: Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » File List Applet - GNOME Panel Applet

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:25:22 +0000

[...] time, you cannot filter your view of all the other files you’re not interested in. I previously wanted to address this issue within Nautilus, (and I still believe this functionality would be wonderful in Nautilus), but I ended up doing this [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:46:49 +0000

Remove the Desktop, its obsolete. I run without one and dont miss it. my files are in my ~ under directories that corespond to what they are, movies, documents/work and so on. Launch applications are done trough a panel/launcher so i can see any reason for populating a area so big and undefined as the the “desktop” Not for random icons/files anyways.

By: Philip Ganchev

Philip Ganchev — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:19:59 +0000

The desktop is trouble not only because people put all files there, but also because it is obscured by windows. You can create a widget to hide all the windows, but why complicate things? Why not just use a folder and improve the file manager. General solutions make the user’s mental model simpler, make the UI easier to grasp and learn to use efficiently, and are less prone to programming bugs.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:00:44 +0000

Hi, Ryan! I’ve tried out “Desktop Drawers” for a day and it is interesting! Nice little project. I’ve filed a few bugs on the project page. You have a bit more information/disclaimer on the ubuntu forums page, so that may be a better place to link to when first informing people.

I think it’s a great start! But in general, I think the most compelling use-case is not made clear enough, neither through the UI nor the documentation / description:

1) Install the Desktop Drawers applet on your panel.
2) Select Manage Desktops to open the ~/.Desktops directory in Nautilus.
3) In this folder, create folders for different “workspaces,” (”Project 1″, “Project 2″, etc)
4) Then create links to related folders and files in each of these workspaces.
5) Projects/Workspaces can now be switched between using the applet.

Although it’s not quite addressing the issues that I wanted to with the “Intelligent Desktop,” I’m going to continue using Desktop Drawers for a while more, I think. Thanks!

By: Something similar

Something similar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:42:11 +0000

I have implemented something similar to this called Desktop Drawers. It allows one to have project spaces by selecting between dynamic and static desktops. If you have any suggestions I would be very grateful. Here is the current source page of Drawers: https://launchpad.net/desktopdrawers