[ge-talk] Search, Don't Browse

[Niklas Nisbeth]

Your concerns are very valid, of course, but I can see now that I  
really wasn't clear: I don't want to change the file system. I'm  
quite sure that BeFS does exactly what I want right now - I've not  
read all of Dominic's book, it was a bit technical for me, but it's  
my distinct impression that it's perfectly adequate for the next few  
years of revolutions :) - so there's no need. I don't want to change  
the file system, I want to add another layer of abstraction to give  
the users impressions that the same file can actually appear in  
multiple 'folders'. I'm conviced this is clever for all types of  
files, really. Text, media, you names it.

Files should still go in folders on the file system, but let's take  
the example of copying files from a camera to a users HD. More or  
less the same procedure could be used for ripping audio cds.

1) Plug in camera, comes up as a FAT32 mass storage removable hard  
drive.
2) Tracker looks and goes, ooh, lots of images here! and gives you a  
window with previews or just a list or whatever your preferences are.  
You then tag them via right click menu, a hot key, or whatever, or  
maybe toolbar buttons on the Tracker window itself (gasp!).
3) This is where it gets kind of blurry, the importing, or copying to  
local. I basically think there should be an 'import' action in a  
toolbar or menu, which groups files in traditional folders according  
to type and possibly date or the first user tag.
4) In addition to the user tags, things like imported date, ID3 tags  
(if avaiblable) should be added, and a search query to match these  
exact files by the lowest common denominater (for instance, imported  
date), stored somewhere central for further organising.

If you'll permit me to sidetrack: When I was first forced to use  
Apple's home directory structure after upgrading to OS X I initially  
though, why should I have a Pictures folder? Hmph. Can't I just put  
my pictures where I want? And I stuck everying in the root of my home  
folder in files named by project (ie., most of them called New Folder  
or hgfhd or time & day) cos that's what I used to. I don't, anymore,  
I've just supplemented the home directory structure of ~/Pictures, ~/ 
Documents, with others, just to keep things a little more cleanly.  
But what about screenshots and mockups for my programming abstracts?  
Do they go in the pictures or the documents folder? What if I need  
one in more than one project? Yes, it's obviously tied to whatever  
document they appear in, but sometimes it'd be nice to tie things  
together easily. Tagging would let me do that.

I hope this clears things up a little. One thing I think should be  
worked on is reworking the tracker window so it can show more than  
one list in one window, like that beagle screenshot. I think that's  
essential for queries, group files according to type.

Sincerely,
Niklas Nisbeth