Ubuntu
kde-systemsettings package

File association settings are not found under System Settings

Bug #89140 reported by Hirvinen on 2007-03-02

This bug report is a duplicate of: Bug #50320: Kubuntu's system settings app doesn't handle file associations. Edit Remove

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	kde-systemsettings (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	Wishlist	Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: kde-systemsettings

The problem:
File association settings are not found under System Settings -> KDE Components as they are in Control Center -> KDE Components.
This is bad because:
1) These settings do not affect Konqueror only. (The settings are now found only there on a default Kubuntu installation.)
2) Kubuntu now doesn't install Control Center by default, but System Settings instead.
3) The current situation of these settings being accessible only under is clearly not intuitive enough, as instructions for changing file associations under Kubuntu have been asked several times during the last month on Kubuntu and Ubuntu IRC channels.
4) System Settings is a natural place for a user to look for settings that affect behavior of several programs.

Proposed solutions:
1) Add File associations under System Settings -> KDE Components
OR
2) reinstate Control Center as the default program for managing system wide settings under Kubuntu
OR
3) Install both kde-systemsettings and kcontrol as a dependency of kubuntu-desktop.

Revision history for this message

Yuriy Kozlov (yuriy-kozlov) wrote on 2007-03-02:

I agree it would be a good idea to put file associations in system settings.

Changed in kde-systemsettings:
importance:	Undecided → Wishlist
status:	Unconfirmed → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

Juan Carlos Torres (jucato) wrote on 2007-03-14:

Marking as a duplicate of bug 50320

1. Since Konqueror is the file manager, it's only logical that it should have the settings to manage file associations. I believe this is how it is done in other operating systems or desktop environments.

2. KControl is still installed by default, but not put in the K Menu. You can still launch it w/ Alt+F2, kcontrol.

3. To be fair, people come into the #kde channel not knowing where to set File Associations either. And they're coming from different distributions.

4. We can never really be sure. People coming from GNOME or Windows might look into the File Manager's settings first.

For your proposed solutions:
1. This is possible, but still needs to be discussed. The people who rearranged System Settings are involved in Open Usability and KDE's HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) working group, so their input would be needed.

2. This is probably not an option, as it would be even more confusing to have 2 default apps.

3. kcontrol is already installed and is a dependency of kubuntu-desktop.

Revision history for this message

GreatBunzinni (greatbunzinni) wrote on 2007-03-17:

The first distribution I installed was Mandrake 9.2, which was way back in the past. I don't know if it has changed but back then Mandrake sported KDE as it's main DE and back then the file association was done by KDE through KDE's control center.

That method (tweaking the file associations from the DE's control center application) is, at least to me, the obvious path to take. That approach is modular and ls clear to any user. Moreover, it has been the KDE way of doing things and it is also the windows way of doing things.

On the other hand, offering that option exclusively in some obscure menu of an application that doubles as web browser and file manager... That doesn't look right nor does it look intuitive. Moreover, it doesn't even make sense since the good KDE people are working on a new file manager which is separate from Konqueror. What will happen then? Will the Kubuntu people offer that feature through konqueror even for those users who will not use it? Will that feature be offered from both Konqueror and the new file manager?