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GNOME Gets Real Drag n' Drop Support with XDS

fosswire.com — The latest version of GNOME, 2.20, was recently released. A surprising addition was made just a few days before: the addition of XDS support. Now you can finally drag and drop files from File Roller to Nautilus without trouble.

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  • z0mbie2099, on 10/10/2007, -4/+30Wow really, I wasn't even aware this feature was missing, go figure.
    • selkie, on 10/10/2007, -6/+14Linux is now ready for the desktop
      • mfearby, on 10/10/2007, -12/+4I'm *so* sick of hearing that. Gnome is still too dumbed down and KDE is still too overloaded with features that the likes of myself are going to hold out with Windows XP for as long as we can get away with it and until something viable - and usable - comes along.

        We'll all know when Linux is ready for the desktop when people stop claiming that it's ready!
      • astrosmash, on 10/10/2007, -12/+1> Linux is now ready for the desktop

        Not until the Gnome/KDE thing gets sorted out. And it doesn't look like that will ever happen.
        • bigtomrodney, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8It's not a war, it's a choice.
          • astrosmash, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4It's a choice for the developer, not the user. That choice, by the developer, negatively impacts at least half of Linux Desktop users no matter what they choose. It's an absurd situation.

            If the Linux Desktop was about choice then a could user pick and choose which applications they want to use without having to give any consideration to what SDK the developer chose. But that's not the case.
          • michiamojoe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5They're two desktops with different designs philosophies *for the user*. So long as they continue to use (open) standards to do common things like clipboard support, DBUS, etc., they are interoperable. I agree that some things will differ like conventions for Open File dialogs and confirm/cancel button layouts, but these are pretty minor -- you can use one application in any other desktop environment.

            The one thing I would like to see is a common theming/style standard (maybe even as high a level as HUG detail) so that a theme written in this standard would be useable by GTK/Gnome, KDE/QT, Enlightenment, GNUSTEP, etc.
          • astrosmash, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3> They're two desktops with different designs philosophies *for the user*.

            Yes, but the developer makes that choice for the user. The user has no say in the matter, other than to not use the application.

            This digg story is about interoperability between two *Gnome* apps. Interoperability between Gnome and KDE apps is much poorer. I don't suppose you can drag a file from File Roller to a KDE app? Didn't think so.

            And consistency between standard dialogs is *very* important, and it's made much worse by both Gnome KDE's utter reluctance to standardize on even these most basic of desktop services. The best button layout is the one that all of the other apps use, the one that the user expects. Swapping OK/Cancel positions is just about the most satanic things an application could do, and I still get constantly burned by it.

            These aren't license or language issues. The Gnome and KDE camps have never taken interoperability between the two seriously, and the Linux Desktop user suffers as a result. It is very much a war.
    • EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Its actually be a faily major PITA for me, every time I want to extract a file I end up having to browse to the folder location where I want to put it. Much easier to just drag it onto the desktop or into documents etc...

      Maybe next we can get the ability to actually edit entries in the menu rather than just relying on the inbuilt entries and organisation, although I guess the Gnome developers think that is to advanced for grandma.
      • 0xception, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4you mean in the main system menu? i think this ability already exists, not sure if it's a 3rd party app but in fedora you can right click the menu and click edit...
        • liorwohl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4in ubuntu too
        • tgoose, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's there but it doesn't work very well (from what I hear that's no fault of the writer of alacarte, it's a problem inherent in the GNOME menu.) But for me at least it takes a few seconds to actually apply changes, and messes up a lot of stuff.
      • arjie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yeah, that usually triggers Alacarte - The Menu Editor. If you're not using the latest version of your distro you may have to install that package.
    • flaare, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0I tried to join Applications | Places | System in one menu. I gave up after a few hours of messing with the text files and disorganizing the taskbar. It was the final straw that made me return to XP, after a couple of weeks using Ubuntu exclusively. I was just wasting too much time with small things like that.
      I won't give up, though. Will start using it again when Ubuntu 7.10 is released.
  • lassegs, on 10/10/2007, -2/+23This is the best thing about 2.20. I've missed this for so long.
  • geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+32*Nautilus gets...

    For the record, this bug has been on record since at least 2004. Thank goodness people are actually paying attention to Nautilus development again.
  • pawntheking, on 10/10/2007, -27/+0GNOME? File Roller? Nautilus? WTF are these terms?
    • RealityBender, on 10/10/2007, -1/+25alright who let the windows guy comment on this story
    • EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10They are super secret code words
      ☮☀☂ ☏☁☃☋☄★☇ ☈☉☊☎☌☠ ☡☢☍ ☣☤☥☆☦☨☩ ☪☫☬☭☯
      • rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Where did you get those characters?
        • chrisxkelley, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1☇ ☈☉☊☎☌☮☀☂ ☣☤☥☆☦☨☩ ☪☫☬☭☯☏☁☃☋☄★☇ ☈☉☊☎☌☠ ☡☢☍
    • daverave999, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5It's like he hasn't heard of google or something...
    • sirdaz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2If compared to windows,
      Gnome: The desktop (or shell as in windows) that you see (tasbar, menus, start menu, etc).
      File Roller: Opens zip / arachive files as explorer does.
      Nautilus: as explorer in windows
  • bratterscain, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13Awesome. Imma drag n' drop 'til I drop now.

    inb4 Windows fanboys saying, "welcome to 199?". For the record, there is still many Windows situations where dragondrops don't work and even before, many situations in Gnome where dragondrop did work for years.
    • Optimaximal, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7The 'dragging onto taskbar' error still pisses me off. Not only is it disruptive until you turn it off, but it seems logical that another way to open files/programs would be to drop them on the taskbar, which represents the 'working space' in the OS.
      • zwaldowski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually, the taskbar button list, as it is officially referred to, is a list of currently open windows. Why, you ask, that the term window list (as is used in all other OSs) isn't used? I don't know.

        Somebody get me out of Computer Apps class.
    • sirdaz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually in Windows, if you drag a file on top of an app button on the taskbar, it puts that program into focus so that you can drag into that properly.
      When the taskbar is full, you couldn't use it to open new apps which would then be inconsistency.
      • cdmarcus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Gnome brings the window to the front when you drag items onto taskbar entries as well.
    • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Wow that's really great Einstein - but why don't you try a real operating system for once?
  • TheColonel, on 10/10/2007, -24/+8So Linux wants to be all mainstream, and yet only now gets a semi-decent method for drag and drop of files? Didn't windows manage this back in '95?
    • c0nv1ct, on 10/10/2007, -16/+3Only recently has linux started to cater to people too stupid to not know how to do things without "drag+drop" capabilities(Ubuntu). Where Windows has always been designed specifically for those with such a limited mental capacity.
      • Optimaximal, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Your comment is right, but your linux fanboyism has just made you look like a prick.
        Windows has always supported dragging and dropping because the OS is written from the ground up as a GUI-based system - d&d is an integral part so they needed to get it right.
        Linux/Unix are CLI-based with a GUI bolted ontop afterwards - the only reason it's been implemented is because the increasing need to up the marketshare (for some reason) has driven the development of X and the desktops.
        • tech42er, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Right. That's exactly what he said, but you said it in a much more civil manner. Do we need drag and drop on Linux? Of course not. We have mv and cp, but now that some distros (e.g. Ubuntu) are catering to those who live in the GUI and want drag-and-drop support, it has to be perfected.

          For the record, I prefer having my GUI be superfluous, hence why I use Linux. Obviously, some people want a more GUI-centric OS.
      • djauto23, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4You are assuming that:
        lack of knowledge of computers == a limited mental capacity
        Now, is this always true...?
    • EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16Gnome has had drag and drop for ages, it just has better drag and drop now.
    • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12a) GNOME =/= Linux b) GNOME =/= Nautilus c) GNOME's Drag and Drop has always been fine, this is only Nautilus. The summary is wrong.
  • Atdiw, on 10/10/2007, -23/+3America ***** YEAH!!!
  • ripple123, on 10/10/2007, -28/+1Well I bet that is just fascinating to all 5 of you who use linux and visit digg.
  • w1ndow, on 10/10/2007, -14/+1the other 4 guys cant make it today :(
  • ommadawn, on 10/10/2007, -12/+6I'm dragging and dropping all the time in KDE. From Ark to Konqueror, from Konqueror to KMail, from Amarok to mp3 player, from an audio cd to disk... I didn't even know that GNOME had drawbacks there.
    • geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Basically, everyone gave up on Nautilus development ages ago, with only a trickle of bug fixes here and there and no real development. Every single other application could do XDS, but nobody bothered updating Nautilus.

      Finally, someone decided to rip the code from Thunar and threw it into Nautilus, now that people are realizing it's quite possibly the most Bitrotten piece of software in continuous use today.
  • over90000, on 10/10/2007, -4/+11So when will gnome have thumbnail previews in file upload dialog box?
    • liorwohl, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0its already have.. fireofx dont have thumbnail preview, not gnome...
    • Peterix, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Find the image in nautilus -> ctrl-C -> switch to the file upload field -> ctrl-V
      No preview needed.
  • tmahmood, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2This is lame...
  • L33tMasta, on 10/10/2007, -31/+2Linux hasn't had click and drag support until now? Wow, makes me glad I'm never going to use it. Good old Windows Vista can't fail me. PLUS IT PLAYS GAMES IN DX10!
    • djauto23, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Yes it has, even between KDE/Gnome, but appearently not for this particular feature (D&D from file-roller to nautilus).
    • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16You really don't have a clue. PS, DirectX10 is still slower than OpenGL.
    • L33tMasta, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW :'(

      That's all I hear when a Linux user talks
      • technoredneck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6You might want to get that hearing problem checked out.
        • L33tMasta, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1I just think you all need to stop your bitching and just accept your wannabe OS is 2nd rate at best.
    • tech42er, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5It's obvious from your comments that you're nothing more than a 2-bit troll. Blocked.
      • bruce89, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2What do you expect from someone called "L33tMasta", they're probably from Croydon.
  • mikal, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12I didn't know what it was called, but I sure did miss it. Especially not being able to drag a file from Fileroller annoyed the hell out of me.
  • dillinger23, on 10/10/2007, -19/+1The year is 2007 and gnome gets dnd. What a joke linux on the desktop is.
    • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10No, you're the joke because you didn't bother to read the article properly.
  • dillinger23, on 10/10/2007, -16/+3It will be fun watching the brainwashed gnome masses digging down everything that has to do with KDE
    or posts pointing out how ridiculous and amateurish gnome is. After all, anything that messes with
    the fantasy lalaland that the fanboys live in, needs to be banished. God forbid criticism.
    • crash0, on 10/10/2007, -12/+2kde is polished *****
    • MikeWanDo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8This has nothing to do with KDE. Sound's like you're just a fanboy for something other than Gnome; no different from the people you're calling 'brainwashed'.
  • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -5/+20I see the Windows trolls are coming out of their ***** again. GNOME has always had drag and drop (in addition to its other superior usability features to Windows), this is just so you can drag files from File Roller to Nautilus. Why this is Digg-worthy I don't know, but oh well.
    • mfearby, on 10/10/2007, -17/+3Gnome treats users like idiots more so than Windows. In Windows (XP) I can draw selection rectangles around files but not in Gnome (or Vista, sadly, but since Vista is *****, I'm holding out for a decent re-release of it). Until Gnome stops babying users and expecting them to be dumb, it'll never take off in the big leagues!
      • geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Nautilus has supported rubber-banding ("drawing selection rectangles") for ages (since it was written? At least as long as I've used it, it's had it). No idea what you're talking about.
    • plebeian, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3I'm hardly a windows troll, but this has been a pain in the ass for a long time now -- and quite inexcusable for software that claims to provide a robust desktop experience for users.
    • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Superiority? SUPERIORITY? I don't care "to Windows" or "to anything". The day Gnomies start talking about superiority is the day you know there's been a rush on Kool-Aid.
  • DOGPARTY, on 10/10/2007, -16/+2***** hell, Mac perfected this well with version 1
    • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Instead of repeating myself, I'll just give you a virtual bitchslap over the internet.
  • Samji, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3Cool. Looking forward to it.
  • Samji, on 10/10/2007, -11/+2Cool. Looking forward to it.
  • Izacus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Well, friggin finnaly. This has been pissing me off since I started to use Gnome. Now I hope they fixed the damn save window bug too.
  • anshuman, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Nice!!!! I like!!!!, I Digg!!!
  • ropers, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Nice. Now could someone with a Wikipedia account please create the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Save_Protocol article?
    Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDS
  • stephdau, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Ah ah. +1 for using WordPress nightly in the example screenshot. :p
  • Tavo, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Finally, I thought it was a bug, but it was a non feature. Just this thing alone makes me want to upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10
  • kiranaryan, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Apart from the file roller drag n drop, we can now leave messages on a locked computer, edit user profiles and there's evolution with libnotify which is quite kool!
    • Peterix, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1And a stable ATI binary driver that doesn't have that ugly display corruption bug in the lower right corner of the screen.
    • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I agree. Give it another five years and KDE will be a professional desktop environment.
  • DnasTheGreat, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Before the trolls start randomly making false claims,

    GNOME has had drag-and-drop support for a while already. This is an enhancement to the protocol to allow for fast transfer of files via drag-and-drop, for things such as file archiver -> file manager, or more interestingly, saving by dropping directly to a file manager, as opposed to using the file chooser. I believe the ROX desktop makes heavy use of this idea.

    For example, the GIMP in its latest version (release candidate 2 is available), when it displays the unsaved files, you can drag the entries directly into a file manager to save them, and they will disappear from the list -- having tried with Thunar, this is very convenient. I'm glad GNOME is finally going to support it.
    • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1For a while? The year is 2007.
      • DnasTheGreat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1And... your point? A while can mean any time period. :-P Windows also has had drag-and-drop "for a while".

        I don't know when GNOME first got drag-and-drop. It was before I started with Linux. Both KDE and GNOME already had better and more extensive drag-and-drop than Windows when I first found them. You can use drag-and-drop to select folders and files in a file chooser, for example. Last I tried Windows, it could not do that.

        The significance of this feature is rather that it now implements an extension to the drag-and-drop spec (XDnD) that a few other Linux file managers also had implemented, which means there will be even more momentum for apps to use it. Now we can drag-and-drop in even more ways than before. Call me back when you can save a file via a drop into a file manager window on Windows.
  • midtown, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Nice, I have tried to do this so many times and never understood why I couldn't. Thanks for letting me know I can now!
  • Shadoglare, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Well, frankly I don't do the drag-n-drop thing anyway, but yes it's about frikkin' time this happened.
    • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1OK, that's fair.

      Ever tried a so called graphical user interface?
  • digitallysick, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2i havent noticed? i just wish i could get a thumbnail view when i try to upload files from my web browser, i would be happy
  • Kugo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"Steve Jobs once said the X Window System sucked and would be dead in half a year. He was half right." -- Dennis M. Ritchie
  • RomgRim, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Biggest non-event since the last GNOME announcement. Or news Icaza is a cross-dresser. Woof woof.
  • smek2, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1"Now you can finally drag and drop files from File Roller to Nautilus without trouble" -- finally? It's 2007, Mac and Windows user enjoying this feature for years. Seriously, how can you proudly proclaim that one can "finally drag and drop" files in Linux in 2007, without feeling a bit ashamed?
    • srg13, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Wow... Not only did you not read the article (or at least comprehend it) you didn't read one of the 20 comments clarifying this... GNOME has had drag and drop from the very first version. As has any good window manager/desktop environment. This is just one application supporting a different (more standard) drag and drop protocol...
  • kevmaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's great! And now in Gutsy, Ubuntu is coming with a great tool to change display settings as well!
    http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net/techblog/article/cha ...
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