The thing is we still use files as the entry point to open them. Working on a phone is different from working on a larger screen.
The current entry point for opening files is Files (nautilus). There is the “Star” function to pin them easily. Now, if you’re already using the star feature for something other than “use files later”, then maybe another “tab” in the sidebar could be added or this feature could be reworked (e.g. classify files and folders better in the “Starred” tab). This is another possible solution to think about.
True, I also agree, and I think that I should update my previous sentence in this way:
“In more general terms, a motivation like ‘We can’t maintain it, too complicate’ sounds like a perfectly valid motivation to me; also a motivation like ‘This is our vision’ usually sounds right to me; but a motivation like ‘You do not have a point in wanting what you want’ (whatever that might be) starts to sound terribly wrong.”
Then all we need to do is defining when a request from the community contradicts the vision. I mentioned Postel’s law because we could simply apply it as follows:
Does request contradict vision? → Discard it
Doesn’t request contradict vision? → Accept it
(Note that in case #2 I did not write “Think about it”, I wrote “Accept it” – it’s a principle after all).
All is needed is being sure that a “Discard it” does not appear in case #2, and the awareness that when it does it might take robustness away.
On the specific topic of the desktop icons it was at least not immediate for me to understand how removing the icons belonged to case #1. But I was sincere when I said that I am not really passionate about this specific issue, and that means that I have not spent the decades thinking about it. All I wanted to do was bringing different perspectives.
If you use the Star feature, you can autostart Files using GNOME Tweaks (for example). However, this does not offer direct access to the files you want, you will need to click on the “Starred” tab.
It’s a pity that there is no way to sort files on desktop like in macOS, when all images stack as images folder, all videos stack as videos folder, all documents stack as documents folder etc.
Everything you would like to have tells me that you don’t want to run GNOME. Gnome is not Windows, not MacOS, nothing in between, not a copy, not an Android or iOS like thing. It’s something own with its very own workflow.
If you haven’t done that, try it for some month. It’s nice and you don’t need desktop icons.
I know that GNOME isn’t other OS’s, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be convenient to use, on my PC with Windows my desktop is not cluttered with files, and I rarely use the desktop.
If I will be using GNOME as a daily driver, I could get used to it. If I’m used to war, almost daily sirens, explosions, power outages and other misfortunes, then by that logic, I could also get used to not being able to put files on the desktop in GNOME.
If you think of the desktop from GNOME as a real desktop, it turns out to be an empty board on which you can’t put anything, like a book, phone, cup, flashlight or anything else, you just can’t do it.
You can only put your items in the drawer underneath (Files app), for example if you want to put something on your desk, a cup of tea for example, you can’t do that because you can’t put items on your desk,
You can only open a drawer and put a cup there, and when you want to have tea you have to open the drawer and take the cup out.
I think you’ll agree that this is very uncomfortable with the example of a real desktop.
It might even remind you of some kind of dystopia where the “GNOME government” once forbade people to put their items on their desks, and when citizens ask to be allowed to put items on their desks, the “GNOME government” is against it, saying that putting items on your desktop is something from the past, just use the drawer.
So there is an insurgent “Extentions” movement that fights the bans and extends people’s rights.
(Yes, it’s nonsense, but that’s why not look at it from that perspective?)
To use the real desk analogy, we start with an empty desk. Then, we take everything we need (books, articles, phone) from their respective places (the library, the drawer, the pocket) and put them on the desk. Books, articles and phone are applications. The library, drawer and pocket are the application grid.
To place everything on the desktop, it’s all about tiling. Leaving everything in place to continue working later is about session restore.
To sort by file types like in macOS, you can request such an addition in the Desktop Icons extension issue tracker (don’t forget to post screenshots if you have, so the developer see exactly what you want).
Sorry but I find it very absurd how many people I see on social media that really do seem to hold this opinion. GNOME (and many other open source projects) go to great lengths to ensure the code is free and hackable for everyone. It is hard to imagine how anyone could make it any easier given the technical constraints, i.e. making a complete desktop with many complex features that retains a consistent design. If you really do have this view, I think you are luring yourself into a trap where you will always be angry and disappointed and feeling that others are not doing enough for you.
Well, it’s open source, but I don’t understand why GNOME didn’t back files on the desktop, why developers prevent such attempts? GNOME is an open source project, but it is impossible to help with adding files to the desktop, because the developers are against it
There are some extensions, that add ability to put files on desktop, it seems to work fine, but the design is not nice
Although if the developers of extension + GNOME designers could join and implement it would be logical.
You’ve been given multiple reasons; it’s up to you, now, to accept them, and make peace with it. You have three options in front of you:
you accept that GNOME designers and developers have their reasons, and use GNOME as they intend
you use one of the alternatives—extensions or other applications
you switch to a different desktop
There’s also the final option of going around doing user testing and demonstrating that people benefit from the traditional desktop metaphor, but that’s going to be a hard sell.
What you don’t get to do is constantly asking the same question again and again until you get the answer you want, or until somebody does the work for you.
In any case, we’ve now reached the end of the current iteration in this kind of circular thread, so it’s time to close the topic.
