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Long, long ago, I suggest to replace open action with two:
1) View
2) Edit
Each action should open viewer (or editor) based on mimetype settings. But this idea do not get implemented. There is also possibility to view also open option as default and if there is no program to open set up, we would view by default.

But there is for another idea.

In my opinion, many KDE software should work in two modes - edit and view. Default would be view mode and there should be fast way to switch into edit mode (and to exit it). Some keyboard shortcut + item on toolbar.
Gwenview, Dolphin and Kate would be three examples. Dolphin currently has selection mode, so maybe extend it?
In Dolphin's edit mode, we shown delete and inline-rename icons near each file. Clicking on file will select it instead of open. Also, we could shown Comment, Tags, Stars editor only in edit mode.

In Gewnview, view mode will not display any unnecessary UI elements (designed to edit). When switching into edit, we can edit tags, comments, stars and EXIF information. We can also rotate and save changes.


In kate, in view mode we cannot edit. There is no access to history, no way to put letter, etc. We can still put bookamark, switch code highlight, etc.

Edit mode is View Mode + Additional possibilities .

Additionally, when app starts, it starts in view mode by default. We can shown tooltip with often used keyboard shortcut for view mode (like arrows + pgup/pgdown in kate) and also, keyboard shortcut how to switch to edit mode. This tooltip also will shown info what view mode is.
In edit mode, this tooltip will shown info what edit mode is and how to switch to view mode. It contains information that views' mode shortcut are still accessible and contains link to list of shortcut from view mode.

Why:
1. No way to destroy something in default (view) mode
2. Simpler UI in view mode, because many options could be hidden
3. Nice tooltips/tutors
4. UI match what user needs (for example dolphin will displays inline-rename and delete icons around files)

What do you think?