Re: [trinity-users] Re: [trinity-announce] Trinity pre-release freeze

On Thu, 2010-09-23 at 12:19 -0500, Timothy Pearson wrote: > > Timothy Pearson wrote: > >>> Also on the Squeeze install all the icons on the desktop belong

> root? > >>> Including trash and my documents, a strange "konqueror web

> icon > >>> is on the desktop belonging to root and I can not put it in the > trash or > >>> delete it, this is definitely not a "point-n-click" system. > >>> > >> > >> I was not sure if those icons should be included by default on > Debian; > they can be removed easily enough through the use of Configure > >> Desktop->Behavior->Device Icons. Simply deselect the icons you

> want > >> to see and they will magically disappear. This feature is similar

> the > >> old Microsoft system icons system; you cannot delete as you would > other > icons because they are part of the desktop itself. > >> > > > > > > On my laptops Lenny install I have icons, webcam, documents, home, > system and trash, all those icons belong to "user: jimmy", "group: > users", this has nothing to do with device icons, the Trinity Squeeze > system says all the icons belong to root and that is the problem. > > > > Even your Trinity on Ubuntu says the icons on the desktop belong to

> "user: jimmy, group: jimmy" I can add and remove what I want. > > You can remove those icons from within the "Device Icons" page. The > reasoning behind making them root owned (and therefore impossible to > delete from the desktop through "normal" means) is as follows: > OLD WAY: User A decides to remove an icon from the desktop. He or

> deletes said icon through the delete key and empties the trash bin.

> A > later on decides that he or she wants the icon back. Since it has

> deleted, the only obvious way to get it back is to create a new

> from scratch (most people don't know about /etc/skel). This is not > exactly user-friendly! > > OLD WAY: Developer A notices that one of the icons is broken on some > systems, so he decides to change the .desktop file responsible for

> icon. However, there is no way to propagate the change to existing

> profiles, as /etc/skel is only copied on first login. Therefore, the > developer has to instruct people to recreate their profiles, or copy

> file from /etc/skel and change permissions on it. This is not user

> developer friendly, and acts to make Trinity less accessible to the > average user. > > NEW WAY: User B deactivates the icon through "Device Icons". When

> B > wants the icon back, it is available in "Device Icons" and can be > reenabled with a few mouse clicks. > > Developer B propagates a .desktop file changes to the system

> where the icons are stored. All users receive the updated icon

> file transparently. > > What I can do is to change the default under Debian to not show the > icons > by default, however I would like some input from the other Debian

I think the technology is sound but the user experience is probably non-intuitive. I thought about capturing the delete and turning it

a disable but that would leave the user ignorant of how to restore it. I wonder if there should be a context menu item for "Configure Desktop Icons" which would point to Device Icons. I also assume it is all configurable via rc files in Kiosk mode.

Perhaps the menu item should be "Enable/Disable Desktop Icons" or we

simply make it pertain to the specific icon and have a "Hide This

context menu item. That would still leave users ignorant of how to restore it but would probably be the most intuitive. Just my two