Logical Desktop - introduction with screenshots

Table of contents

• Initial screen
• The idea: narrowing
• Verb-oriented style
• Using Logical Desktop the smart way: selecting files LAST
• Executing a simple action: turning off the computer
• Where are my files? How do I change directory?
Sorting everything based on recent usage time

Initial screen

In order to explain how Logical Desktop works, it is better to consider a situation where all the panels are open at the same time.

In this screenshot of Logical Desktop, you are presented with four panels: the verb panel, the file panel, the program panel and the device panel:

The idea: narrowing

What happened?

• all verbs which don't apply to PNG files have disappeared;
• all programs which cannot manage PNG files have disappeared;
• all devices which don't make sense with PNG files have disappeared; (only the printer and the cd burner remain, because of course you can still burn the picture to a cd, or print it.)

The program automatically hides the things that don't make sense with the current selection. We say that the lists have been narrowed to show only the useful things.

Hiding (narrowing) is not the innovation of Logical Desktop; the concept of information hiding is very old, even in the field of user interfaces: for example, it is common for an application to hide the files it cannot manage. The real innovation of Logical Desktop is

• to apply the concept of "hiding" not only to files, but also to verbs, devices and programs;
• to apply it with absolute uniformity and symmetry: you can select files, verbs, devices, programs in any order, and clicking on any of them hides everything else. (This uniformity is very important, as we'll see, because it enables Logical Desktop to unify the two paradigms "task-oriented" and "document-oriented".)

The actual technique used by Logical Desktop to treat files, verbs, devices and programs in a uniform way is called "reciprocal incremental list narrowing", or simply "narrowing".

First let me explain the "incremental" part. Logical Desktop's list narrowing is "incremental" because it acts on the cumulative selection. What does it mean? Select the program "the gimp", leaving the PNG selected, and see what happens:

• all files that don't make sense with both Gimp and PNGs have disappeared. Only the pictures remain. (The directories are greyed out, because you might still want to enter them)
• all verbs which don't make sense with both gimp and PNGFs have disappeared. Only three verbs remain.
• all programs which don't make sense with both gimp and PNGs have disappeared. Only picture viewers/editors remain.
• all devices which don't make sense with both gimp and PNGs have disappeared. Only the printer remains.

This explains the use of the word "incremental".

What about the "reciprocal"? This is the most important part. Logical Desktop's lists are reciprocal because selecting an item from any list triggers narrowing of that list and all the other lists. We have just seen this: selecting Gimp hides some programs but also some files, some verbs, some devices. So, where is the reciprocity? In this case, here:

• if you select a program, you only see the files which make sense with that program.
• If you select a file, you only see the programs which make sense with that file.

You are beginning to see the potential of this idea now? ;-) But wait, this is just the beginning.

So far we have been following the traditional "file-oriented" style, where you select a file for first, and then the rest (a verb, a program, a device...).

Now we shall see that Logical Desktop allows many other styles: task oriented, device oriented, program oriented. We shall also see how an action can be executed.

Verb-oriented style

Suppose you want to view a picture, but you are new to Linux and don't know how to do it. Deselect all, and select the verb "view picture".

What happened?

• All files that are not pictures have disappeared;
• all programs that don't support the verb "View picture" have disappeared; (notice how this policy promotes alternatives, with no additional annoyance for the user.)
• all devices have disappeared; (in future I will add different monitors to view the picture)

Of course, if you had selected "Edit pictures" instead, you would only have seen the program "Gimp":

Using Logical Desktop the smart way: selecting files LAST

Yes, but how did you find the picture? You had to scan all the files in the folder with your eyes. This is why traditional systems use folders: to organize your files, in order to scan them more quickly with your eyes. Sadly, newbies don't organize their data. They tend to put everything in their home folder. Furthermore, even if you are NOT a newbie, and use many well-arranged, hierarchical folders, reaching the folder takes much time, and many clicks. Also, organizing data takes time. Finally, you have to remember where you put your data.

With Logical Desktop, if you don't organize your data, there is a trick that that greatly reduces the list of files you must scan: selecting the files last. It is better to select the most "meaningful" thing first---that is, the one that "cuts" the most files. For example, if you want to print, it is better to select the printer first. Or the verb. This will hide many files, thus making easier to find the right file.

Example: We want to print a PNG. Since we are smart, we decide to select the device first:

See how the files have been narrowed to only those files that can be printed? Wait: don't select the file yet. Select the verb "print picture" instead:

Now you only see the pictures in the current directory, therefore it is much easier to find the right one to print.

Please notice how important it is to be able to select verbs, devices, programs and files IN ANY ORDER.

Many people have objected that "devices are useless". Nothing could be farther from the truth: selecting the device FIRST makes you spare time LATER, when you must select the file. That's the beauty of narrowing. :-)

Now we shall see how to actually execute an action.

Executing a simple action: turning off the computer

First of all, locate the computer. Click "important locations", then "all", then select the computer:

Once again, all the things which don't make sense with this device have disappeared. In particular, all files and programs have disappeared, and only three verbs remain.

Of course you will select the verb "shutdown":

The execute button appears, and you click it. The action is executed.

Where are my files? How do I change directory?

Long answer: you may have noticed there are two toplevel lists of locations: "important locations" and "recent locations". You open those lists by clicking the big buttons on the toolbar.

At first, the "recent" list is empty, and the "important" list contains a single location: "all". "all" is similar to "Desktop" in Windows: it is the toplevel root location of a virtual hierarchy.

Click the location "all" in the important list. Then the location will be opened in a panel, besides the verbs. You will then see the items contained in "all", which are two sublocations: "programs" and "computer". Then enter "computer", by clicking the small door-shaped icon, and you will see two other sublocations: "devices" and "files". Again, enter "files", by using the door-shaped icon, and you can see the filesystem (starting from /). Then you navigate in the directories as usual.

Notice that you have to traverse the path /all/computer/files/ only once; later, you just pick the location you want from the recent list.

You can also add a frequently used location to the bookmarks, with the verb "Add to important locations".

Sorting everything based on recent-usage time