The default file browser that appears when, for example, I try to open a file from Firefox is awful. I get the same file selector for most applications now, it's a fairly recent 'imporvement', I've only had since I upgraded to Slackware 11.
The whole thing is decidedly counter-intuitive, for me at least. There's no sort of helpful form to it. Across the top the directory hierarchy is a row of buttons, it took me a while before I realised it *was* the directory hierarchy.
At the left the window with directory names in it - what's it for?
Why is "/" called "File System", "File System" doesn't mean root to me.
It's all *HORRIBLE*! :-)
Can anyone tell me if it's possible to change this? (I'm running fvwm2 as my Window Manager by the way).
On 2/16/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
The default file browser that appears when, for example, I try to open a file from Firefox is awful. I get the same file selector for most applications now, it's a fairly recent 'imporvement', I've only had since I upgraded to Slackware 11.
Sounds Gnome-ish to me. I don't know if it can be changed - look for different bindings to install. Here in Ubuntuland I can only see "firefox-gnome-support" as an available package (and it's installed!)
Hope this helps, Tim.
On Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 08:02:56AM +0000, Tim Green wrote:
On 2/16/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
The default file browser that appears when, for example, I try to open a file from Firefox is awful. I get the same file selector for most applications now, it's a fairly recent 'imporvement', I've only had since I upgraded to Slackware 11.
Sounds Gnome-ish to me. I don't know if it can be changed - look for different bindings to install. Here in Ubuntuland I can only see "firefox-gnome-support" as an available package (and it's installed!)
I've dug around a little and it's actually the GTk 2.x file selector, used by many applications as the default file selector. It can be skinned (and I've found lots of XFCE skins for it) but nothing changes its inherent horribleness.
There's quite a few other complaints about it that you find when you do a Google search for it.
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I've dug around a little and it's actually the GTk 2.x file selector, used by many applications as the default file selector. It can be skinned (and I've found lots of XFCE skins for it) but nothing changes its inherent horribleness.
There's quite a few other complaints about it that you find when you do a Google search for it.
Interestingly it is just the same on Seamonkey but somehow Mozilla seems to manage a completely different and much better looking one.
Ian
On Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 06:13:45PM +0000, Ian bell wrote:
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I've dug around a little and it's actually the GTk 2.x file selector, used by many applications as the default file selector. It can be skinned (and I've found lots of XFCE skins for it) but nothing changes its inherent horribleness.
There's quite a few other complaints about it that you find when you do a Google search for it.
Interestingly it is just the same on Seamonkey but somehow Mozilla seems to manage a completely different and much better looking one.
I don't care all that much what it looks like, it's the rubbish way it works that I object to!
Both Mozilla and Seamonkey give me the same file chooser.
On Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 07:59:13PM +0000, Ian bell wrote:
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I don't care all that much what it looks like, it's the rubbish way it works that I object to!
Both Mozilla and Seamonkey give me the same file chooser.
Sorry, could have sworn you said it was ugly. What's wrong with how it works?
Well for starters if I happen to know the file I want to load (i.e. I have it in the cut buffer from somewhere) there's nowhere to enter a file name, I have to go clicky, clicky, clicky directory by directory all the way there.
... and I don't find the way it's presented easy to understand either, every time I use it I end up going up and down directories a few times before I understand what's going on. A visual representation of the directory tree structure would help no end.
... and I don't have *anything* in Desktop so I can do without that being permanently there thank you.
Hi Chris,
Ctrl-l in those dialogues should bring up a text box to type/paste into.
Rob.
On 18/02/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
On Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 07:59:13PM +0000, Ian bell wrote:
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I don't care all that much what it looks like, it's the rubbish way it works that I object to!
Both Mozilla and Seamonkey give me the same file chooser.
Sorry, could have sworn you said it was ugly. What's wrong with how it works?
Well for starters if I happen to know the file I want to load (i.e. I have it in the cut buffer from somewhere) there's nowhere to enter a file name, I have to go clicky, clicky, clicky directory by directory all the way there.
... and I don't find the way it's presented easy to understand either, every time I use it I end up going up and down directories a few times before I understand what's going on. A visual representation of the directory tree structure would help no end.
... and I don't have *anything* in Desktop so I can do without that being permanently there thank you.
-- Chris Green
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On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 06:10:19PM +0000, Rob Page wrote:
Hi Chris,
Ctrl-l in those dialogues should bring up a text box to type/paste into.
Coo, it does too, thanks.
However it does seem a bit of a retrograde step. It should at least be possible to get an alternative interface that suits a more techie/power-user/old-fashioned/call-it-what-you-will type of user.
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 07:09:29PM +0000, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 06:10:19PM +0000, Rob Page wrote:
Hi Chris,
Ctrl-l in those dialogues should bring up a text box to type/paste into.
Coo, it does too, thanks.
However it does seem a bit of a retrograde step. It should at least be possible to get an alternative interface that suits a more techie/power-user/old-fashioned/call-it-what-you-will type of user.
But that's not what Gnome is about ;) (Yes, I bloody hate the Gnome file dialog, it annoys me rather a lot, but then as I really don't use that many Gnome apps, it doesn't make too much of a lasting impression - I also hate the OpenOffice.org file dialogs... and the KDE ones... you know, the last time I was reasonably happy with a file dialog was the GTK 1 file dialog, still in use by xmms... it doesn't annoy me half as much as the others :)
Cheers,
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 07:31:06PM +0000, Brett Parker wrote:
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 07:09:29PM +0000, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
On Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 06:10:19PM +0000, Rob Page wrote:
Hi Chris,
Ctrl-l in those dialogues should bring up a text box to type/paste into.
Coo, it does too, thanks.
However it does seem a bit of a retrograde step. It should at least be possible to get an alternative interface that suits a more techie/power-user/old-fashioned/call-it-what-you-will type of user.
But that's not what Gnome is about ;) (Yes, I bloody hate the Gnome file dialog, it annoys me rather a lot, but then as I really don't use that many Gnome apps, it doesn't make too much of a lasting impression - I also hate the OpenOffice.org file dialogs... and the KDE ones... you know, the last time I was reasonably happy with a file dialog was the GTK 1 file dialog, still in use by xmms... it doesn't annoy me half as much as the others :)
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
On 2/19/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
Create a shell script that launches the image(s) whenever you need to do so from the command line (or create a desktop link to the shell script). That's what I do at work, anyway. We're using VMware Player.
Regards,
Martyn
On Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 09:29:16AM +0000, Martyn Drake wrote:
On 2/19/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
Create a shell script that launches the image(s) whenever you need to do so from the command line (or create a desktop link to the shell script). That's what I do at work, anyway. We're using VMware Player.
Yes, good idea, I have lots of little shell scripts that do this for other applications.
Alternatively, find the directory once and then drag the folder into the left-hand favourites bar, and then you should be able to get back to it quickly.
Rob.
On 19/02/07, Martyn Drake martyn@drake.org.uk wrote:
On 2/19/07, Eur Ing Chris Green cl@isbd.net wrote:
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
Create a shell script that launches the image(s) whenever you need to do so from the command line (or create a desktop link to the shell script). That's what I do at work, anyway. We're using VMware Player.
Regards,
Martyn
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On Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 10:03:57AM +0000, Rob Page wrote:
Alternatively, find the directory once and then drag the folder into the left-hand favourites bar, and then you should be able to get back to it quickly.
Yes, the trouble is that I always forget what that 'favourites' bar is for, it just confuses me!
On Mon, 2007-02-19 at 08:47 +0000, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
Which version of VMware is this ?
Workstation from about V4.5 or V5 has a favourites list for recently started guests. Or guests can have a tab on the interface which shows the guests screen if it is running or the guests VM configuration pages if it's not.
oN mON, fEB 19, 2007 at 09:08:56PM +0000, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
On Mon, 2007-02-19 at 08:47 +0000, Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
For some applications there appears to be no alternative though - e.g. Firefox and VMWare. For me it's particularly annoying with VMware as I rarely restart my VMware guests and when I do that awful file open dialog opens up and I can never find where my VMWare images are kept.
Which version of VMware is this ?
5.5.3
Workstation from about V4.5 or V5 has a favourites list for recently started guests.
Yes, I think we'd lost this for some reason, or navigated around so much that it was lost.
Or guests can have a tab on the interface which showsthe guests screen if it is running or the guests VM configuration pages if it's not.
Yes, that's what I run it from normally and, when it wasn't there, it took me a quite a while to find the guest image again.
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
On Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 07:59:13PM +0000, Ian bell wrote:
Eur Ing Chris Green wrote:
I don't care all that much what it looks like, it's the rubbish way it works that I object to!
Both Mozilla and Seamonkey give me the same file chooser.
Sorry, could have sworn you said it was ugly. What's wrong with how it works?
Well for starters if I happen to know the file I want to load (i.e. I have it in the cut buffer from somewhere) there's nowhere to enter a file name, I have to go clicky, clicky, clicky directory by directory all the way there.
... and I don't find the way it's presented easy to understand either, every time I use it I end up going up and down directories a few times before I understand what's going on. A visual representation of the directory tree structure would help no end.
You are right - it is complete crap. Sea Monkey is just the same. Reminded me why I can't stand gtk/gnome. Mozilla works the way you want as does Konq.
Ian
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Brett Parker -
Eur Ing Chris Green -
Ian bell -
Martyn Drake -
Rob Page -
Tim Green -
Wayne Stallwood