ceronio.net

Desktop which behaves like a file manager

I’ve recently discovered something quite addictive. It is Ubuntu Brainstorm, a think tank where the community can help shape the development of Ubuntu by providing ideas on how they think things should work. It’s nice to sit and watch the votes on your ideas and solutions. I guess it’s like placing bets on racehorses (not that I would know from experience).

Anyway, one of the ideas I submitted is this: a desktop which has the behaviour of a file manager. I explained it thusly:

Picture it: You log on to Ubuntu and are presented with your desktop. Instead of a view into your Desktop folder, however, it is a view of (for example) your Documents folder. Now, you double-click on a folder. The items on the desktop change to show the contents of the new folder.

Of course, you want this behaviour as optional, because many people will still prefer the old-style desktop.

Problem: Easy navigation to higher folders is required. Perhaps there should be a sidebar on your desktop? In that case, there is probably a ton of stuff you could do with the desktop. It could be like an interaction center, instead of just a place for some icons and shortcuts.

Anyway, I thought it’s a pretty neat idea, and one I would like to see implemented, but unfortunately it seems that most people so far don’t agree (at the time of writing it has -15 votes). So, like the racehorse analogy, you feel a bit disappointed when your horse doesn’t win. But fortunately, you’re not betting money.

Anyway, you can see a list of my ideas and solutions to other people’s ideas on Brainstorm (doesn’t seem to work too well in Internet Explorer, I must warn you).