OSNews

Before I begin, I would like to make an apology. After years of reading mountains of opinions on all my favorite news sites I was sure that my first contributions to the community would be something solid and factual rather than another spot of drivel to heap on the pile. Alas, I cannot resist myself so if you are looking for a insightful, well researched article you can cease reading here. Now back to the subject at hand.

In the spirit of paradigm shifts, let me turn the rules of writing on their head just for this editorial and start with a conclusion. The one thing that I have learned almost irrefutably is that if you approach this change with a goal of trying to find out how it can enhance your current file management techniques I think you will be sorely disappointed. This system is simply not navigational at all. In fact, I think it is hardly compatible with a navigational approach altogether. Rather, if you change your goal to be "How can this paradigm change my file management techiques" I think you will learn a good deal if you don't stick with the spatial approach completely. Now that we have the conclusion out of the way we are ready for some of the observations and, of course, I will end with a thesis statement.

Firstly, and most obviously, I have found, as many others have, that as I use the new Nautilus I, almost without exception, have a slowly shallowing directory structure. Many people use deep directory structures as a pseudo-metadata system often with folders that contain only one other folder simply for the sake of description. While I wouldn't qualify this to be a bad thing the overhead generated by having to walk through another window to get to your files is a frustration in the new mode. I get the feeling most people give the spatial Nautilus a short try and after they realize that they cannot do things the way they always have they give up not wanting to risk or change their current organization. I can certainly understand this hesitancy, but I still feel that if one makes the investment it will pay off. Addionally, I should add, since my files have become more organized I have not had the problem many have complained about which is the glut of windows that can occur with the spatial mode. This has slowly improved since I set out to use the new Nautilus and has steadily improved. At this point it is a nonissue for me. I think with a few improvements to Nautilus and Metacity over time this could be even better. I am not a taskbar user so if I can work with the windows anyone can.

Secondly, I found I have quietly been deleting hundreds and a hundreds of megabytes of data since using the spatial view. This, in fact, I have found to be one of the biggest indicators that something is working right. My organization is better now than ever before. With the spatial mode it is now much easier for me to see what I do and do not need right on-the-fly, in fact, in my normal work flow. This has been a great blessing since I have neglected the need for a massive cleanup for a few years and now there is no need to have one. I find myself merging, cleaning, and removing folders almost subconsciously throughout the day.

Nextly, I can get to my files faster than ever before. I can honestly say in the old Nautilus, Windows Explorer, and Konqueror I spent more time folding and unfolding the tree on the left than I ever did manipulating the files in the right panel. When I first started using navigational file management I thought it would revolutionize the way I worked. It did; and looking at it retrospectively I am unsure as to whether it increase my productivity or just my clicking. Along those lines I have heard several complaints that the new Nautilus no longer lends itself to keyboard navigation; however, in my experience it has been quite the opposite. I am able to perform almost any file management operation in a few keystrokes. My only request would be something that does both "Close Parent Windows" and "Close Windows" all in one keystroke and I understand that GNOME 2.7 has a "Close All Windows" of some sort which should be satisfactory.

Finally, and I feel most importantly, this is the first file management system that has ever "clicked" in my mind. Over the years I have understood the design of many file management systems and used them competently; however, this is the first where I feel like that is almost an unnecessary step. It is simply me and my files. It is almost like Nautilus, in many ways, no longer exists. If you can get that feel it is fantastic. It is almost like you are living and working right inside your disk. I think this feel is especially important for less experienced users, yet it was amazing liberating for me as well.

1. "Spatial Vs Navigational, Page 1/2"
2. "Spatial Vs Navigational, Page 2/2"