Re: how to open links etc

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:34:33 -0400, Roger <[email protected]> wrote:

>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 08:16:43PM -0400, Benjamin Johnson wrote:
>
>> Easy solution: ask the user whether to open the file, or just save it to
>> disk.
>
> So, the prompt saves my butt 5% of the time, the other 95% of the time  
> I'm
> harassed by a prompt like in Windows.
>
> IMO, configuring for the fewest clicks possible is best.  And like you  
> said,
> provide a file with an option to to link in external apps if the user so
> wishes.  (ie mutt's $HOME/.mutt/mailcap is a good example)
>
> Keeping a file type pointing to null or commented, gets default  
> (download)
> action?
>
> I didn't want to say much more without being able to help code it, but I  
> don't
> want to see another prompt popping-up. (ie. Dillo quit prompt) :-/

Then add a "Remember this choice" option so it won't prompt you again.

I disagree that all prompts are automatically bad.  After a while they do  
get annoying (and there should be some way to disable them), but for new  
users the verbosity can be helpful.  More importantly, it avoids  
surprising the user when the program doesn't behave as expected -- it  
opens instead of downloads, or vice-versa -- and of course, different  
users will have different expectations for which behavior is "correct."

(In my own software, I always err on the side of verbosity, no matter how  
annoying it is to me personally -- because as the developer, I know how to  
disable it on my own machine!)

~Benjamin