Add new blog post, some minor changes
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articles/File pickers suck.md
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articles/File pickers suck.md
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# File pickers suck
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2023-07-03
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Now, I would never go as far as to say Windows is better than GNU/Linux, but it
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still has the edge sometimes. Today I want to talk about one such case.
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## The problem
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File pickers on GNU/Linux are the absolute worst. We've been able to write a new
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display protocol, Wayland but we somehow still can't have a file picker that doesn't
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lack basic features or even works for that matter.
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This is not a minimalist nitpick. In fact what I'm really complaining about
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is the *lack* of basic features that people need. Okay, so let's say you
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have a Chromium tab open and a website you're on requires you to upload
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an image. Fine right? Now what if you don't know what the filename is?
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On Windows, what you would probably do is click on a bunch of them,
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look at the image and see if it's the correct image in the preview pane.
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On GNU/Linux you cannot do this, because our file pickers are so crap and don't allow
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you to preview images. In fact, the only file picker I know of that supports
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this feature is Gimp, and that has a custom file picker that only Gimp uses.
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And it's clear why it has a custom file picker, it's because all the
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other file pickers are useless.
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## GTK file picker
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This is what the GTK file picker looks like. GNOME and GTK has always had a
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minimalist design philosophy, not in terms of code or anything, but they've
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had simple UIs, just like Apple software. It's the Apple of the GNU/Linux
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space. There are multiple issues with this file picker, here are just a few:
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- The aforementioned problem: Images don't have thumbnails, so you have
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no idea what you're uploading unless you know the filename.
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- You cannot enter a path to a file. You can only see the parent directories.
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- The pinned folders on the left are useless, and cannot be unpinned if
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those folders do not exist.
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- You can't pin symlinks. This is massive problem for me at least, because
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I have ~/Screenshots, ~/Music, ~/Recordings and ~/Downloads symlinked
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to another drive.
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Oh wait, you *can* enter a path to a file. You have to press `/` for it
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to display. But when you press `/` the path to the current directory
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will be removed. That is some awesome design right there.
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## QT file picker
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Now, on the KDE side of things we have the QT picker. It looks a lot better.
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For one, it actually has a field for entering a path, which also shows the
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current directory. It has buttons for navigation and a "Filter" option.
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It also allows you to resize each pane, which is a basic feature that
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the GTK picker is lacking for some reason. A massive step in the right direction.
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Only one small problem. Programs that use GTK, which are a lot of programs
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these days, including your web browser where you NEED a file picker that
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doesn't suck will still use the GTK file picker, which we've established
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sucks and is basically useless as a file picker.
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This means you pretty much CAN'T escape the GTK file picker, because it's
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so tightly integrated with the whole GTK toolkit.
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## Windows was right
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As you're surely aware of at this point, I use free software and I don't
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support nonfree software. However regardless,
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Windows does file pickers right. Everything positive I said about the QT
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file picker Windows has done for decades. It may be absolutely
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proprietary, but it is functional, something the GTK
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picker cannot say about itself.
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You may notice some similarities between the Windows file picker and the
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QT file picker. Regardless, they're both functional and get the job done.
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You get a list of your files with image previews, both in the form of icons
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if you increase the icon size and in the form of the preview pane you can
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open up. The Windows file picker is actually even better though, because
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it actually displays EVERYTHING, rather than a few folders that you manually
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go out of your way to pin. It also works with shortcuts (basically symlinks)
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and handles drives too.
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## Conclusion
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GTK and GNOME is about as useful as a painting. Cool to look at, but when
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you actually want to get stuff done, you're SOL. GNOME and GTK should
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take notes, quit designing a painting and instead think about what people
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ACTUALLY need out of their file pickers.
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In the meantime, If you have a solution to this problem, please send me
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an email. In any case, that's it for me. Have a good day!
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1
articles/File pickers suck.md.date
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1
articles/File pickers suck.md.date
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2023-07-03
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
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# My workflow
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2023-07-03
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2023-07-02
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Woah, is that an upgraded blog? **Yes.**
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@ -1 +1 @@
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2023-07-03
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2023-07-02
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articles/img/gtk-picker.png
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articles/img/gtk-picker.png
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articles/img/qt-picker.png
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articles/img/qt-picker.png
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articles/img/windows-picker.png
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articles/img/windows-picker.png
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112
rss.xml
112
rss.xml
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@ -3,16 +3,124 @@
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<title>speedie's blog</title>
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<description>speedie's blog, about stuff I want to talk about.</description>
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<atom:link href="https://speedie.site/blog" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
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<item>
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<title>File pickers suck</title>
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<link>/blog.php/File+pickers+suck</link>
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<guid>/blog.php/File+pickers+suck</guid>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
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<description>
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<![CDATA[
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<h1>File pickers suck</h1>
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<p>2023-07-03</p>
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<p>Now, I would never go as far as to say Windows is better than GNU/Linux, but it
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still has the edge sometimes. Today I want to talk about one such case.</p>
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<h2>The problem</h2>
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<p>File pickers on GNU/Linux are the absolute worst. We've been able to write a new
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display protocol, Wayland but we somehow still can't have a file picker that doesn't
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lack basic features or even works for that matter.</p>
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<p>This is not a minimalist nitpick. In fact what I'm really complaining about
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is the <em>lack</em> of basic features that people need. Okay, so let's say you
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have a Chromium tab open and a website you're on requires you to upload
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an image. Fine right? Now what if you don't know what the filename is?</p>
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<p>On Windows, what you would probably do is click on a bunch of them,
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look at the image and see if it's the correct image in the preview pane.
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On GNU/Linux you cannot do this, because our file pickers are so crap and don't allow
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you to preview images. In fact, the only file picker I know of that supports
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this feature is Gimp, and that has a custom file picker that only Gimp uses.
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And it's clear why it has a custom file picker, it's because all the
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other file pickers are useless.</p>
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<h2>GTK file picker</h2>
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<p><img src="/articles/img/gtk-picker.png" alt="GTK file picker" /></p>
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<p>This is what the GTK file picker looks like. GNOME and GTK has always had a
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minimalist design philosophy, not in terms of code or anything, but they've
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had simple UIs, just like Apple software. It's the Apple of the GNU/Linux
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space. There are multiple issues with this file picker, here are just a few:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>The aforementioned problem: Images don't have thumbnails, so you have
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no idea what you're uploading unless you know the filename.</li>
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<li>You cannot enter a path to a file. You can only see the parent directories.</li>
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<li>The pinned folders on the left are useless, and cannot be unpinned if
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those folders do not exist.</li>
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<li>You can't pin symlinks. This is massive problem for me at least, because
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I have ~/Screenshots, ~/Music, ~/Recordings and ~/Downloads symlinked
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to another drive.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Oh wait, you <em>can</em> enter a path to a file. You have to press <code>/</code> for it
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to display. But when you press <code>/</code> the path to the current directory
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will be removed. That is some awesome design right there.</p>
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<h2>QT file picker</h2>
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<p><img src="/articles/img/qt-picker.png" alt="QT file picker" /></p>
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<p>Now, on the KDE side of things we have the QT picker. It looks a lot better.
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For one, it actually has a field for entering a path, which also shows the
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current directory. It has buttons for navigation and a "Filter" option.
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It also allows you to resize each pane, which is a basic feature that
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the GTK picker is lacking for some reason. A massive step in the right direction.</p>
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<p>Only one small problem. Programs that use GTK, which are a lot of programs
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these days, including your web browser where you NEED a file picker that
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doesn't suck will still use the GTK file picker, which we've established
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sucks and is basically useless as a file picker.</p>
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<p>This means you pretty much CAN'T escape the GTK file picker, because it's
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so tightly integrated with the whole GTK toolkit.</p>
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<h2>Windows was right</h2>
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<p><img src="/articles/img/windows-picker.png" alt="Windows file picker" /></p>
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<p>As you're surely aware of at this point, I use free software and I don't
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support nonfree software. However regardless,
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Windows does file pickers right. Everything positive I said about the QT
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file picker Windows has done for decades. It may be absolutely
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proprietary, but it is functional, something the GTK
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picker cannot say about itself.</p>
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<p>You may notice some similarities between the Windows file picker and the
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QT file picker. Regardless, they're both functional and get the job done.
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You get a list of your files with image previews, both in the form of icons
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if you increase the icon size and in the form of the preview pane you can
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open up. The Windows file picker is actually even better though, because
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it actually displays EVERYTHING, rather than a few folders that you manually
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go out of your way to pin. It also works with shortcuts (basically symlinks)
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and handles drives too.</p>
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<h2>Conclusion</h2>
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<p>GTK and GNOME is about as useful as a painting. Cool to look at, but when
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you actually want to get stuff done, you're SOL. GNOME and GTK should
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take notes, quit designing a painting and instead think about what people
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ACTUALLY need out of their file pickers.</p>
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<p>In the meantime, If you have a solution to this problem, please send me
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an email. In any case, that's it for me. Have a good day!</p>
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]]>
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</description>
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</item>
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<item>
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<title>My workflow</title>
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<link>/blog.php/My+workflow</link>
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<guid>/blog.php/My+workflow</guid>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
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<pubDate>Sun, 02 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
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<description>
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<![CDATA[
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<h1>My workflow</h1>
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<p>2023-07-03</p>
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<p>2023-07-02</p>
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<p>Woah, is that an upgraded blog? <strong>Yes.</strong></p>
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|
|
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Reference in a new issue