Dash, as it is, is able to find every file, rendering it unreliable
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unity (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
Important: I've already tried to suggest this as a brainstorm idea, but an administrator marked the idea as invalid and told me that this should be reported as a bug. I do not agree, but here it goes.
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Dash and its "Files" lens, as it is today, can only find files that Zeitgeist knows something about, i.e. files that have already been opened by the user. That is: you can only search for things you know that are in your computer, mostly files you know everything about, including the path, so Dash is only some kind of shortcut. You can't trust Dash to find any file on your computer for you, though this is expected: a non-expert user doesn't know Zeitgeist even exists, (s)he only knows that Dash can find files, but Ubuntu has ever told him(her) that they're only the ones Zeitgeist is aware of.
My suggestion is that Dash should be integrated with a tracking system, like Tracker, for example, by default, and should index files on background using as little power as possible (by default), so that when a user searches something, files results from everywhere in his(her) home folder should appear quickly. Additionaly, if the user specifically clicks the "Files" lens icon, the option to perform a traditional search (perhaps through the Search for Files tool or some implementation of it in the Files lens) should be presented.
