Comments about Linux/Ubuntu from a former MS-programmer

[Alan McKinnon]

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 05:29, Ari Torhamo wrote:
> I don't know if Nautilus should be a web browser or not, but the
> term "browsing" appears to be used in different ways in the context
> of web browsing and the context of browsing a file system. When
> people talk about browsing a file system, they usually mean opening
> folders and looking at the file listings inside them. Browsing the
> web means opening certain types of files (HTML or other) and having
> their content presented. The fact that Nautilus is able to "browse"
> a file system doesn't mean that it should be able to "browse" the
> web - these are two different things. When I think about it, are
> there any types of files that Nautilus does open?

It all depends on how you abstract what the software is doing in your 
mind. Nautilus is a file manager, a program like this knows about 
directories and files. Give it an "Open" function and when you double 
click an arb file it should determine the file type and launch an 
appropriate app.

Konqueror is a general purpose browser. It's stated purpose is to be 
able to display and view any accessible file any place using any 
protocol (using kioslaves to accomplish this). So it displays text 
files, man pages, rendered html and just about most other things too.

Neither method is inherently right or wrong, but the developer does 
have to pick one and state which method he is using. I prefer 
konqueror but that's because I've taken "everything is a file" to the 
next logical step in my head, and have abstracted the http and 
rendered HTML steps away (I treat them as invisible transport 
mechanisms when browsing).

Nautilus should never be a web browser, as it doesn't cater for this 
abstraction, and neither does the rest of Gnome. Gnome wants the user 
to assume the viewpoint that file system objects and web pages are 
different things, accessed in different ways.

-- 
If only you and dead people understand hex, 
how many people understand hex?

Alan McKinnon
alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
+27 82, double three seven, one nine three five