User directories integration - request for help

[Simo Sorce]

On Fri, 2007-03-16 at 08:52 +0100, Ralf Ertzinger wrote:
> Hi.
> 
> On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:38:00 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
> 
> > > Renaming a user's directories doesn't seem to be "The UNIX Way" TM
> > 
> > Traditional Unix systems never had to deal with many of the modern 
> > desktop requirements so it's high time we stopped citing the "the
> > unix way" as a excuse not to change anything. All modern Linux
> > desktop systems happily automount devices which is distinctly not
> > unixy either. If there are real practical reasons just cite that
> > specifically.
> 
> OSX gets this right, from what I remember. The applications folder is
> always called "Applications" on disk, but the displayed name in Finder
> (and open/save dialogs) is specific to the language settings of the
> current user.

YES, please, DO NOT rename directories in different languages! Madness
will come out of it.

> This is true for system wide folders and folders in users home dirs.
> 
> I do not know what MS does with their "Program Files" folder.

Bloody Windows, can't change installation language, and they change also
*system* folders like Program Files to a localized name. There are then
countless of programs that on installation simply point to the English
name, and recreate it, so that you end up with 2 "Program Files"
folders.

This is broken, and thinking of changing user folder names is also
UTTERLY broken. All application that save a path name for user
convenience, will start popping up error or warning messages about not
finding some file or will just annoy the user into browsing to find
again their documents. 
Think simply at OO.org "Recently Used" menu option. I use it a lot, and
it would simply break if I switch language and my files were stored in a
folder that changed name.

Also as soon as you make a default, people will start using it, and,
like in the Windows case, you will find out apps devs that do not think
of this possibility of changing folders and you may end up with the same
folder with different languages. _BAD_

If you really want to do it, choose a fixed name and change Gnome/Kde to
understand how to display these "special" dirs names into a localized
way (maybe with an option to disable this thing).

Simo.