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Gnome's UI really does suck. Windows File Explorer sucks, too, just not nearly as bad. (Though I'd put it FAR ahead of the Mac's counter-intuitive and ill-nam

by dublin 5y ago

Gnome's UI really does suck. Windows File Explorer sucks, too, just not nearly as bad. (Though I'd put it FAR ahead of the Mac's counter-intuitive and ill-named Finder.) It's the 21st century - WHY, OH, WHY do we still have file managers that provide NO CLUE as to the size and number of files in a directory? Why are all presentations still list or grid-based? Why does it take so long to find files? Can't we save the hashes from the last search and update them periodically when the machine is idle? I'll venture a guess: Because "real programmers" don't use GUIs for file manipulation, so they JUST DON'T CARE about making the most important UI next to the browser any better.

ghostly_s 5y ago
No idea why this is downvoted, its spot on.
jeroenhd 5y ago
I don't see the problem, to be honest. I never really care about how many files are in a directory or how big that directory is when I'm in the "open file" dialog. I just want to find my file quickly. I have no idea how to efficiently operate Apple's design, but I've never had a problem with the Windows file picker. Same with Gnome, to be honest, except when I'm trying to pick an image file. Out of all the UI options, I don't think the grid or list views are the biggest problem here. I don't know what kind of view you expect, but even on phones you'll get grids and lists when picking a file. Every application on the desktop as far as I know has a mechanism to remember the last folder opened, but searches are rarely repeated. I think that makes sense because searches are usually for one specific file, and the probability that you want to open the exact same file multiple times in a row is relatively low compared to the probability that you want to open a file from the same folder. Windows Collections and the search folder mechanism do allow you to use such a method of file picking, though, because the virtual folders that every application already supports can be reused and customised to your hearts desire. As for why it's still a flat overview of files and folders, it's probably performance related. On my machine, I can find pretty much any file by hitting the super key and typing. Gnome Tracker and Windows Search index all the files in my home directory and searching is pretty much instant. On hard drives the searching is slower, but at the same time the indexing barely ever runs because the hard drive is always busy (or the indexer is slowing down the whole system, like on Windows Vista). Automated collections of images and video files work great in a sandboxes environment but Android's buggy file picker shows what happens with that paradigm in an arbitrary file structure, often missing pictures or listing deleted ones on my device because an app used the wrong API or a database sync is still running in the background. My device isn't even a particularly cheap one, I can't imagine how often people with $100 phones run it to this mess.

by dublin 5y ago

ghostly_s 5y ago

No idea why this is downvoted, its spot on.

jeroenhd 5y ago

I don't see the problem, to be honest. I never really care about how many files are in a directory or how big that directory is when I'm in the "open file" dialog. I just want to find my file quickly. I have no idea how to efficiently operate Apple's design, but I've never had a problem with the Windows file picker. Same with Gnome, to be honest, except when I'm trying to pick an image file. Out of all the UI options, I don't think the grid or list views are the biggest problem here. I don't know what kind of view you expect, but even on phones you'll get grids and lists when picking a file. Every application on the desktop as far as I know has a mechanism to remember the last folder opened, but searches are rarely repeated. I think that makes sense because searches are usually for one specific file, and the probability that you want to open the exact same file multiple times in a row is relatively low compared to the probability that you want to open a file from the same folder. Windows Collections and the search folder mechanism do allow you to use such a method of file picking, though, because the virtual folders that every application already supports can be reused and customised to your hearts desire. As for why it's still a flat overview of files and folders, it's probably performance related. On my machine, I can find pretty much any file by hitting the super key and typing. Gnome Tracker and Windows Search index all the files in my home directory and searching is pretty much instant. On hard drives the searching is slower, but at the same time the indexing barely ever runs because the hard drive is always busy (or the indexer is slowing down the whole system, like on Windows Vista). Automated collections of images and video files work great in a sandboxes environment but Android's buggy file picker shows what happens with that paradigm in an arbitrary file structure, often missing pictures or listing deleted ones on my device because an app used the wrong API or a database sync is still running in the background. My device isn't even a particularly cheap one, I can't imagine how often people with $100 phones run it to this mess.