Why Users Blame Spatial Nautilus

An anonymous reader writes "OSNews has a commentary on spatial Gnome and why you KDE/Windows people hate them so much (hint: because almost all of you use Windows and/or a Windows 'interface clone'). Steve Jobs, however, denounced spatial interfaces because they make the users janitors. Hmmm!"

Comments

I'll stand up for Sokol.

[twitter]

It's not easy to stand up for such a snotty author as Sokol, but you have out done him. Anyone who could complain that gconf is "so crap" deserves a good bitch slap. Such unwarranted criticism is what drove Sokol over the edge to begin with.

You complain:

However, when users flat out reject them it is not the place of the developers to say "quit your bitching, we know what is best for you." As for the guy that wrote the article, attacking users that complain and don't know how to use gconf? What, only power users are allowed to choose how their desktop feels?

Yeah, Bullshit. Users have not gotten their hands on the new Gnome yet. The author is pissed off at what reviewers, fucking M$ "power users", have been saying. They should know better. What the author said was:

... if it is not enough, one can click one field in the gconf configuration editor and turn Nautilus into "classical" non-spatial file browser.

I can understand the author's frustration. He's peeved at such bad reviews for a feature that can be turned off and thinks that the way Gnome made things work is nifty and exactly what people asked for. Why have so many WinTel rag trolls panned it?

Why not be pissed about pans of software that's free and easily avoided? Gconf is easy enough to use. The user could call up Konqueror and have a first rate file manager for all the people at Gnome care. They have responded to what users asked them for.

Gnome has gone out of it's way to make a Windoze experience that out dozes Windoze. People have screamed and yelled that Joe Sixpacks wants something easy for his shallow file structure. People, such as my wife, who have never owned more than a few dozen files at a time demand desktop shortcuts and "consistency" of just the type Gnome offers. They want one directory for their hundreds of picture directories and no funny business that might "hide" something. In short, they demand and love clutter. Now they can have it and more.

The author could have been nicer in his write up, but he has a point. Gnome has indeed done the Microsoft Monkey dance. The kinds of people who ohh and ahh over the XP and it's simplified, single desktop, GUI, should love Gnome. It's exactly what people have asked for. But those people are the same jackasses who have forever been claiming "Linux is not ready for the desktop". Two years ago, they pointed to a lack of an "integrated" browser and utilities that were "thrown together" and used different rules. They called inconsistency in the user interface and pretended that Winblows did it any better. They also complained of a lack of "innovation". Well, here it all is! What does it elicit? Complaints. Those people will never be happy with anything but their stale, broken, Microsoft junk.

This software has it's place. Do I use Gnome? No, I don't. At the same time, I know it's just right for people like my mom. She's been pining for her Windows 3.1 machine for years and has made everything look just like it since.

Crazney, if you don't like gconf, why don't you fix it? I'm sure you have such good ideas that everyone will want your fork. Can't do that? Fine, be happy with your fluxbox and leave Gnome alone.

Who says it's hard to turn off?

[twitter]

However, xp does provide an easy way to turn it off, which nautilus apparently doesn't.

It's a single button in Gconf. I don't know where to look in Winblows for such a feature, but I do know that most "easy" things in that terrible UI are only easy if you have memorized the 6 different ways Microsoft has done it over they years.

Do you have anything good to say?

[twitter]

I'm happy that using Windoze is easier for you than Gnome. I don't appreciate being called a stupid Zealot and a troll for thinking otherwise.

Then again, you are full of contradictions. Though you say that you are a "die-hard linux fan", I don't see you saying many good things about free software. A quick review of your comments convinces me that you have a strange way of showing your affection:

• You say bad things about Debian "cruft" as well as complaining about how long it took for this Gnome 2.6 to hit the repository.
• You don't like PHP or Perl and by God are too good for it
• You don't even have nice things to say about koala bears

On the other hand, Well, you do have some good things to say about encryption while beating up an honest to God M$ Astroturfer and you do say a few reasonable things. This, however is weird to the core:

To Twitter: I'm starting to think you really are a Linux zealot troll. You're off my friends list for now.

Tell me any user would be better off with Winblows than a Gnome desktop. For saying so, you would perpetuate Microsoft FUD language and call me a Zealot? With friends like that who needs enemies?

Now for the core of your gripe:

the biggest point: it opens a new f**king window for each folder.

I don't know how you missed that. Every single review of Gnome has trashed the whole thing for this one annoyance that many people have been begging for. The level of Gnome FUD has reached a climax in this thread and it disgusts me.

The Windows UI might be easy for you, but I have trouble finding the "preferences dialog". Do you right click on "my computer", find it under the start menu, or what? I've used 3.1, NT, 95, 98, and 2000. The controls, if they exist, were in different places in each of them for most things. When it comes to Winblows, I'm lost and generally can't find the answer with a quick Google search. This is learned behavior, not a matter of "some intelligence" and it goes away quickly.

Spacial Browsing Sucks!

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Stop trying to justify a bad decision. It's hopeless, nobody likes it and anyone who has files more than two directories deep (i.e. everybody) will switch to KDE.

It didn't work in Win3.11,Win95 what makes you think it will work in linux04.

Grow a brain. Emulate explorer, then improve on it.