UNC file share notation should also be usable, not just URIs

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
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