Software is never “finished”, everybody knows that. Updates are pushed, design changes come and go, newer versions are released, all in the interest of the pursuit of a transcendent product. Or better profit margins. Either way, rarely are changes introduced which reduce functionality. Real people (excluding software developers, seemingly) always want more. More meat on subway sandwiches, more channels to watch on T.V., more ways to customize everything we own.
So why then, I ask, does it seem the Nautilus developers wish to reduce their very widely used file manager down to something which resembles a product of the Windows 95 era? The most prominent answer lies of course in the wild goose chase of simplicity in the use of software. Take a look at Macs, for example. They have become popular largely in part due to their simplicity and ease of use. But there in lies the problem with Nautilus. In their quest for “simple”, the developers (and self- proclaimed experts in user interface design, apparently) are mistaking “simple” for fewest buttons on the screen as possible.
Now would be a good time to read this blogpost by Garrett LaSage, which puts forward some of the proposed design changes being complained about here. I’d like to analyze some of the new ideas, and explain why I think they are all bad. Throughout this article, it’s important to realize that I am largely concerned with default settings. Most file managers in one way or another support a common set of features. It’s how those features are presented to users is what makes the difference in usability.
This is the current default layout for Nautilus (at least how it appears by default on Ubuntu 10.04, the most popular Linux distribution according to distrowatch).
There are two important things to notice right away. First, there are obvious buttons across the top toobar which enable the user to execute commands quickly using nothing but a mouse. In fact, I would venture to say that most programs on all platforms follow this basic design. Web browsers, Office suits, Email clients, Image editors, etc. Normal people like to use the mouse. They like to click buttons without sifting through menus. They like not having to type. Now let’s take a look at one of the proposed layout changes.
Now the only button available is a magnifying glass, which I assume is an alternative to hitting the “enter” key after you finish typing in your keywords into the search bar. So no more “up the hierarchy” button. No more list view button. No more refresh button. There isn’t even a file menu up top to go and change the default settings! Most annoyingly however, and this is my second observation from the previous paragraph, is the complete lack of a “Places” side bar. So now how is one supposed to move around between usb-drives, hard-drives, camera cards, and various other directories which would normally be conveniently listed in a panel? Are we supposed to search our flash drives by typing in UUID numbers or something?
Of course there are other proposed layouts, and none of them have been deemed final, but the general trend of Nautilus is undeniably heading towards: “reduce clutter by hiding or eliminating features.” Some have commented that the new Nautilus is looking quite a bit like Apples “Finder”, which I disagree. Here is Apples file manager:
And here is Explorer from Windows 3.1:
If I didn’t know any better, I would say the new Nautilus was trying to be a Windows 3.1 clone, but with more than 16 colors. I have no leverage in the Nautilus design process whatsoever, but I do wish for a simple, yet powerful window manager. The fact that one of the objectives of the new Nautilius is to ” remove ‘filesystem’ in the UI ” just baffles me. The whole point of the file manager is to manage my file system!! How the hell else am I going to move files around? The command line? If the objective of Nautilus is to make using my computer simple, just what kind of craptastic job is it doing if I have to resort all the way down to the command line?
Also in the queue for removal is, “Everything in the sidebar other than Places: including Tree, History, Emblems and Notes.” Yep, as I addressed before, that extremely convenient window pane on the left with links to your removable media, commonly used folders, folders on other computers, etc. is being removed. Wiped out. Gone. Bye-bye. Now you get to use the revolutionary new search tool, where you can resort to your using keyboard and typing in things you remember about the directories that you want to visit. Because that’s so much more advanced than just navigating with the command line. **cough** find / -name keywords **cough**.
The comments on LeSarge’s blog are of mixed reaction. Some people seem to love the idea of achieving simplicity through reduced functionality, some are in favor so long as features X and Y are not removed, while others (like me) think the idea is the product of poor judgment on the real world target audiance of Gnome/ Nautilus. Let’s face it. The target audience of this file manager (if you can even call it that anymore) is undeniably skewed towards power users. Power users who could, if need be, default to utilizing the command line, but would rather use a modern and effective graphical user interface.
