Shuttleworth On Redefining File Systems

moteyalpha writes "Mark Shuttleworth described the beginnings of what could a great step forward in making file systems more usable. I've personally had the experience of trying to find a file for a customer who had just finished editing a critical report, saved it, and then couldn't locate it to deliver to their client. Quoting: 'My biggest concern on this front is that it be done in a way that every desktop environment can embrace. We need a consistent experience across GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice and Firefox so that content can flow from app to app in a seamless fashion and the user's expectations can be met no matter which app or environment they happen to use. If someone sends a file to me over Empathy, and I want to open it in Amarok, then I shouldn't have to work with two completely different mental models of content storage.'"

Comments

Re:This would be easy

[abigor]

Except they can't search inside Office formats or pdfs, so they are next to useless for serious users (read: business).

Re:Why?

[Blakey Rat]

Wow, I hope you never write software.

Or if you do, it's software that you never expect any actual humans to use.

Who uses default save locations anyway?

Maybe you would, if they made more sense and were more usable.

If you do that, they'll shortly become cluttered with all sorts of unrelated garbage. Make separate directories for each project and save your files in the appropriate location. Give them meaningful file names too. Then you'll never lose a file.

Yes, but the whole point of computers is to make your life easier. Why doesn't it just do all this FOR you? I think you're missing the main thrust of the article. Well, and combined with your basic ignorance and/or disdain for usability.