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Having used the desktop metaphor for 30+ years, I'm still not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing with it. The desktop, that is — i.e. the ~/Desktop folde

Having used the desktop metaphor for 30+ years, I'm still not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing with it. The desktop, that is — i.e. the ~/Desktop folder. What am I supposed to keep there? ~/Downloads, I get. ~/Documents more or less makes sense. But what the hell should I use the magic Desktop for, given that I'm hardly ever looking at it (I usually have at least one window open!)? The Desktop folder might make some sense if it were the root of the filesystem, but as it is, it's just somewhere that temporarily stores my screenshots, that I have to frequently clean-up by moving its contents into ~/Pictures.

CRConrad 5y ago
Around 2015-16 I was astounded to observe a then-colleague, who had worked with computers for decades, exhibit this workflow when switching back and forth between different application windows on their desktop computer[1]: * Move hand from keyboard to mouse / touchpad * Click "Minimize window" button in upper corner * Mouse over to task bar / dock[1] and click the other app * Do whatever it was they were doing (copy/paste?) there, then... * Repeat the process to switch back to the first app. * Lather, rinse, repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat... Yes, I mentioned the existence and function of Alt-Tab[2] a couple times. Not too many. Apparently not enough. I have later observed the same thing with at least one current colleague[3], also with decades of experience in their line of work. Eh, sorry, "Why are you recounting all this?", I hear you ask? OK, to get to the point: People who work this way do actually get to see their OS desktop a lot. I think most people used to do that back when the graphical "desktop" UI was new; I may well have done so myself, 30-35 years ago -- not for very long, though, AFAICR. And I wouldn't have thought that very many do nowadays; I'd have guessed most people who've started to work with computers after ~the turn of the century would have faster, more fluent, ways of working ingrained. ___ [1]: Can't recall if they used Windows or a Mac at the time I noticed this. [2]: Or Cmd-Tab, or whatever it was on the Mac. [3]: Whom I'm sure uses Windows.
marrs 5y ago
I use it as a place to put files I’m working with in the moment. Once I’m done with them, I either file them away or delete them. Although I don’t use a desktop on Linux anymore, I still use the directory for that purpose.
frosted-flakes 5y ago
In Windows, the Desktop folder _is_ the root folder, conceptually (but not really). If you open the My Documents folder and press Up you will be in the User folder. Press Up again and you will be in a "Desktop" folder that also includes such things as the Recycle Bin and Control Panel. Press Up again and you will be in My Computer with a list of storage devices. In reality, that Desktop view is not the _actual_ folder, which is located in the User folder. It's just a special view of the desktop that probably causes more confusion than it is worth.
- isagues 5y ago
  I can't believe it's possible to find the Recycle Bin without Re adding it to the desktop. Search bar doesn't find in my case :(

CRConrad 5y ago

Around 2015-16 I was astounded to observe a then-colleague, who had worked with computers for decades, exhibit this workflow when switching back and forth between different application windows on their desktop computer[1]: * Move hand from keyboard to mouse / touchpad * Click "Minimize window" button in upper corner * Mouse over to task bar / dock[1] and click the other app * Do whatever it was they were doing (copy/paste?) there, then... * Repeat the process to switch back to the first app. * Lather, rinse, repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat... Yes, I mentioned the existence and function of Alt-Tab[2] a couple times. Not too many. Apparently not enough. I have later observed the same thing with at least one current colleague[3], also with decades of experience in their line of work. Eh, sorry, "Why are you recounting all this?", I hear you ask? OK, to get to the point: People who work this way do actually get to see their OS desktop a lot. I think most people used to do that back when the graphical "desktop" UI was new; I may well have done so myself, 30-35 years ago -- not for very long, though, AFAICR. And I wouldn't have thought that very many do nowadays; I'd have guessed most people who've started to work with computers after ~the turn of the century would have faster, more fluent, ways of working ingrained. ___ [1]: Can't recall if they used Windows or a Mac at the time I noticed this. [2]: Or Cmd-Tab, or whatever it was on the Mac. [3]: Whom I'm sure uses Windows.

marrs 5y ago

I use it as a place to put files I’m working with in the moment. Once I’m done with them, I either file them away or delete them. Although I don’t use a desktop on Linux anymore, I still use the directory for that purpose.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

In Windows, the Desktop folder _is_ the root folder, conceptually (but not really). If you open the My Documents folder and press Up you will be in the User folder. Press Up again and you will be in a "Desktop" folder that also includes such things as the Recycle Bin and Control Panel. Press Up again and you will be in My Computer with a list of storage devices. In reality, that Desktop view is not the _actual_ folder, which is located in the User folder. It's just a special view of the desktop that probably causes more confusion than it is worth.

isagues 5y ago
I can't believe it's possible to find the Recycle Bin without Re adding it to the desktop. Search bar doesn't find in my case :(