I need to make a correction on my original statement. As I see it right now the main issue is the inconsistency between mv and nautilus - I've done a scan of the nautilus code to see exactly how it's doing things and it turns out that the code that handles this is actually implemented in form a file-monitor.[1]
This means that nautilus *should* notice the change whether it's done using nautilus itself or the mv command - provided the user is logged in at the time and running nautilus. Saying that - this doesn't seem to be working at present (which is why I didn't see any reflection in the config file when I used mv) - so I see this as a bug in nautilus which I will follow up on with the community, since it doesn't appear to be working on Linux either. Thanks, Darren. [1] - You can peruse the code, and search for xdg_dir_changed, at: http://svn.gnome.org/viewvc/nautilus/trunk/libnautilus-private/nautilus-file-utilities.c?revision=13701&view=markup John Plocher wrote: > Hugh McIntyre wrote: >> But on the other hand, I'm fairly sure that it I type "mv Music >> Music.old" on MacOS, the desktop does not track this and instead creates >> a new Music directory next time I fire up iTunes. In fact, if using "mv >> Music Music.backup", I've relied on this in the past. Sometimes the >> user may want the system to start with a new directory... > > > The current behavior is inconsistent. > > If you do the rename in the GUI file manager, the "remembered" name is > updated, > but if you do it via the desktop terminal program, it doesn't. > > Doing it the same (always updating or never) would be good; it is the > difference > in behavior that is bad, combined with a hidden remembered value that is > difficult > to change. You have to remember that the main use-case for this is a regular desktop user - not the type that always launches a terminal to move a file around - using a terminal to do things is always a risk with the desktop since you're not using any of it's interfaces. A regular user will expect the change to be remembered, but I think expecting it to be consistent when you go to the system level and make the change is asking a lot - especially when Solaris is never designed with the desktop in mind - in contrast to the likes of Apple who work from the desktop down not the other way around. If, for example we were to follow Apples case and simply stop the user from moving the directory, would we not be accused of breaking an existing system interface in a very bad way too. > > If the desktop starts up and can't find the expected/old dir, there needs > to be a way for me to update the "remembered value": "please use 'Music' > instead > of the default 'My Music'..." >
