File conflict handling is confusing, hard to use, error-prone
During all my years using nautilus, I've never been able to get my head around the folder merge and file conflict dialogs you get when you try to copy/move duplicate files.
It's never been clear to me what "merge" actually means in practice (it's not communicated in the dialog). Nor has is ever been clear what the difference between "skip" and "cancel" is. And I've never really figured out how merge relates to file conflicts.
Confusion aside, the logic of "check every time, or perform the same action for all files" is problematic. If you check every file, it can take forever, but if you opt for "apply this action to all files and folders" you're taking a blind leap of faith. It's not communicated what's actually going to happen.
A better design, I think, would:
- Combine the merge and file conflict dialogs into one, giving users less to figure out
- Explain exactly what "merge" means in practice
- Always work on a bulk operation basis, with a preview of all the actions that will be taken
I've created some mockups for this; they might not be 100% there, but they seem like a reasonable place to start.