Public bug reported:
This is a feature request.
Let's say I want to browse to a file share on a Windows machine. Let's
call the Windows machine "winbox", and the file share name "winshare".
In Windows, I could simply press Start -> Run, then type this in and
"Run" it:
\\winbox\winshare
(This opens a Windows Explorer window showing the file share.)
The notation of this command above is called "UNC" ("Universal Naming
Convention"). It's actually a standard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Naming_Convention#Universal_Naming_Convention
If I want to browse this same file share in Ubuntu, I'd Open nautilus
and use URI notation instead of UNC:
smb://winbox/winshare
This is all fine and dandy, and I'm grateful that I can browse Windows
shares whatsoever from Ubuntu. But I think it's important to take it up
another notch in convenience. I think it's vital that Nautilus also be
able to support the same UNC notation that works in Windows, in addition
to the URI notation. Nautilus could have some simple logic that would
recognize the UNC notation, and quickly convert it to URI notation,
before proceeding as normal. It's pretty simple: replace all "/"'s for
"\"'s, then prepend "smb:" on the front. Then continue processing that
URI as normal. When the user sees the instantaneous conversion of the
UNC path to a URI, they will say to themselves: "Oh, so that's the more
proper way to specify that path." As they see this conversion process
over and over, it will eventually teach them URI notation. It's not
complicated once the user is shown the live example of how similar the
notations are.
This is especially important to help ease the migration of long-time
Windows users who are new to Ubuntu and do not yet understand the URI
notation. Also, think over how many enterprises have hundreds of
internal documents that have UNC pathnames hard-coded in them that link
to other internal documents (located on other file shares within the
enterprise). You can bet the authors of those internal documents didn't
politely list both the UNC notation, then the same link in URI notation
just below for the convenience of any Ubuntu users who happen to be
reading their document.
Sure, OpenOffice may be able to open and decently convert MS Word .doc
files, but then when the user clicks on any UNC paths to Windows file
shares, they'll run into a dead end because nautilus cannot open UNC
paths.
If Ubuntu wants to make headway in the enterprise where Windows
dominates the scene, it needs to support the notation that Windows
computers use to visit each others file shares.
There is also a second part to this feature request:
Once nautilus can open UNC pathnames, there also needs to be a way to
associate any UNC pathname clicked on in any application to opening that
UNC pathname in a spawned instance of nautilus. Perhaps this should be
a configuration option in System -> Preferences -> Preferred
Applications. This way a user could specify Konqueror, should Konqueror
gain this feature before Nautilus does.
Cheers,
--
Dustin Harriman
My Blog: http://ca.blog.360.yahoo.com/dustinharriman
RSS Feed: http://ca.blog.360.yahoo.com/rss-RkGSoVA1brWtXrVH9Gr5CzgVujwwGg--?cq=1
"If you know it, but then don't do it, then you don't know it." -Ajahn
Sona
** Affects: nautilus (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: Unconfirmed
--
UNC file share notation should also be usable, not just URIs
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/119747
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