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Hello everyone,
Just tried to burn a CD on a Mac Os X machine. Usually I don't like their way of doing things, but I found that hey have a really easy and nice shortcut for burning data-CDs.

When you insert a blank CD and open it with the file manager, you can put there the files you want to burn, and they will be burned in the CD when you try to eject it. Obviously, before proceeding a dialog asks you if you really want to burn that files in the CD.

It would be a really easy and fast if we could do this kind of thing using dolphin.
Maybe the disk space bar in the status bar should display the used space on the CD after burning.

I think it should be just a fast shortcut and should not try to replace K3B (maybe a button to switch to K3B for more detailed configuration could be useful)

What do you think about this?

regards
gerlos

Not a lot You say you open it in a file manager, then drag the required files to it. What's the difference between that and opening it in k3b and dragging the required files? Sorry, but I prefer to keep the functionality where it belongs, in the burning package, where I have full control of what I'm doing.

This is something that a variety of file managers do. It may be handy, but I agree with Anne here, "keep things where they belong"

But isn't that the whole point of kio slaves, to do things in the file manager that are normally done elsewhere? By that logic, we shouldn't have cd ripping in the file manager either, but it is. The same goes for a lot of other kio slaves, if we were just trying to keep functionality where it traditionally goes probably at least half the kio slaves would need to be removed. I can understand not turning the file manager into a full-featured CD and DVD burner like K3B, but for just quick burning of a few files it seems like a natural thing to do in a file manager. It is not that different to the user than copying files to a flash drive, memory card, or external hard drive. It seems to fit in well with the general tasks done by kio the various kio slaves.

It is also the point of kparts!

I have been thinking for a while now how useful a k3b kpart would be. Given for example that k3b has fantastic audio CD ripping capabilities, making a k3b kpart should allow this function to be accessed directly in (any and all) audio applications like amarok. (And not re-implemented)

The advantage of using the parts approach is that the *same* functional component gets reused wherever it is actually needed without the jarring experience of launching a totally new application.

Does anyone know why it would not be possible to do this with k3b?

It is possible. You can already do this (not exactly how you want it, but it kinda is the same) if you install Nero Linux 4. Version 4 also comes with Nero Burning express. You just insert a blank CD or DVD, select the file(s) you want to burn, right-click on one of the files, select Open with and then click on Nero Burning Express. Nero Burning Express opens, you only need to click on burn and it burns the file(s) you want
So similiar functionality should be possible for KDE.

You can do that with K3b, just click actions->create file project with K3B. But the idea of this thread is to burn files inside dolphin without having to go through a different program.

Definitely, using a separate application is too much of a learning curve, and of course takes longer.

Illogical. By that concept we'd have one application that does absolutely everything and it would be fiendish if not impossible to learn. Apart from that, dragging files into a window in one application is no harder than dragging them in another, so it all comes down to whether we want a do-it-all, or the unix way - do one thing and do it well.

Definitelly. I would like to have CD/DVD/BD burning in dolphin.

@annew: WRT doing it the unix way, be careful how you generalise this philosophy. Unix does have a history of separating tasks and providing single purpose tools. However it also has a history of allowing you to integrate those tools in many different ways. This provides the flexibility and power we love!

It makes "good unix" sense to have a single tool/component for CD burning. It equally makes good unix sense to provide well integrated access to that tool from multiple different applications, the command line, etc.

To that end, I advocate that the preferred way of providing burning functionality in dolphin (or amarok, or some video editing app or photo library management app etc) is by modularising k3b's burning functionality.

It is not wrong at all to want to be able to access this (CD burning) functionality from within another applications context - and this can dramatically improve usability. The functionality just should not be re-implemented in each context.

*That* is the unix way

Have a nice day

I can imagine having empty CDs appear in the "Places" sidebar for me to just drag-and-drop files onto - how is that any different to USB devices and other storage devices?

I suppose that I just can't visualise them as being the same. The usb drive for instance is a miniature drive, on which you can perform all the drive management tasks - format, set permissions and delete files, for instance. A CD isn't like that, even if it's RW. It needs to be handled by a different set of tools, so it just doesn't feel logical to me to try to handle it as though it is the same.

I know Andre argued with my expression, but the fact remains, it comes down to whether you want many totally different things combined or discrete tools. You prefer one way, I prefer the other.

Then adding this feature wouldn't conflict with your method of working: using a separate, specialized application. We're not getting rid of anything...

This kind of thing was what I was imagining (forgive the quick and dirty image cut and paste work) - k3b appears within dolphin.