Ask what to do when moving files/folders

[Emanuele]

When I move a document to a folder on the same disk, by default I move the folder/file, what I expect is that it asks me if: copy, move or create a connection, as does the Dolphin file manager.
Many times it happens that I have to copy files/folders and I find myself moving these files, is not very friendly as a user experience.

I attach a screenshot to show what the Dolphin file manager does, and what I expect Nautilus to do.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.04
Package: nautilus 1:3.31.90-1ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.0.0-7.8-generic 5.0.0
Uname: Linux 5.0.0-7-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.10-0ubuntu23
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Thu Mar 14 19:06:41 2019
GsettingsChanges:
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'initial-size' b'(889, 549)'
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.preferences' b'show-create-link' b'true'
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.preferences' b'executable-text-activation' b"'ask'"
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.preferences' b'show-delete-permanently' b'true'
 b'org.gnome.nautilus.list-view' b'default-column-order' b"['name', 'size', 'type', 'owner', 'group', 'permissions', 'where', 'date_modified', 'date_modified_with_time', 'date_accessed', 'recency', 'starred', 'detailed_type']"
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-02-18 (23 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 19.04 "Disco Dingo" - Alpha amd64 (20190130)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=it_IT.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: nautilus
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
usr_lib_nautilus:

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report but the most common action is to want to move so that default makes sense, you can use ctrl+move to do copies

[Emanuele (emanuc)]

Thank you for responding so quickly.
The problem is that it has two different behaviors:
1) The use case that operates in the same partition, in this case copy;
2) The use case that operates on different partitions, in this case moves, I expect at least the same "copy" behavior, because I can move files or folders from backup, and I want the folder to remain on the backup.
My concern is when I install Ubuntu to a few experienced people, in this case if they want to copy some documents to the USB stick, they could only find the copy on USB, since in this case nautilus moves the folders.
I reported the BUG because I often have to restore the other copy to the original place.

[Emanuele (emanuc)]

Sorry, I'll correct myself:
The different behavior is on the same partition: move.
However the problem of usability remains, many inexperienced users accustomed to Windows, use the mouse to move, copy folders etc
I must be able to decide at least whether to move or copy.

[Emanuele (emanuc)]

I recently installed the Chromium SNAP, so I wanted to copy the Chromium DEB configuration:
I select the folder /home/user/.config/chromium and move it to /home/user/snap/Chromium/current/.config/chromium
My intention is to copy, since I want to keep the ".deb" installation configuration, Nautilus has moved the folder, because it is in the same partition.
Since on the chromium snap configuration there was already the configuration folder, I applied and overwritten the files/folders, in this case I lost the configurations, nothing serious, but it is annoying.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Windows doesn't display a menu on dnd by default does it? If you want to copy you can also use the context menu or ctrl-C...

[Emanuele (emanuc)]

In fact, not even Windows shows a choice when moving a folder, even if it visually indicates that you are moving a folder.
Unfortunately I don't use keyboard shortcuts very much, I use a lot of mouse.
Same thing the users to whom I install an operating system, in 99% of the cases they are used to the click, and it is difficult to explain to them to memorize the keyboard shortcuts, they must already get used to the change of operating system between Windows 7/10 and Ubuntu / Kubuntu.

Yesterday I installed Kubuntu (I removed Windows 7) to a user, so I made a temporary backup on a USB disk, at the end of the installation I made all the files move (not copy), with dolphin it was simple and intuitive because I was proposed a choice.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

It would be best to submit the request to the people writing the software
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/issues/

We are not going to change the behaviour, I'm not even sure what you suggest at this point. Displaying a menu on a drag action by default would get in the way for everyone and complexify an user experience that should be simple. Maybe what you are requesting would be to have an option to copy instead of moving which would suit better your way of working?

[Emanuele (emanuc)]

The ideal is the behavior that Dolphin has, because sometimes I want to copy, sometimes I want to move, Dolphin in this case when you drag a folder asks you: copy, move, link, as seen in the screenshot I attached on post #1