9
exerceo
2y

If the computer freezes during a drag-and-drop operation, you have to hold the mouse button and wait until it is unfrozen to avoid dropping the file in a wrong place.

Computer freezes can be unpredictable. For example, you might click on a location on screen that will have a different effect after the computer unfreezes because something moves or a window is opened/closed, or a keyboard press is not registered. For example, if you start dragging a file and then press CTRL during the freeze, it might not register the CTRL press and end up moving the file instead of copying it.

Comments
  • 2
    I've had these years ago (like back when I was running Windows XP), but they've become pretty rare nowadays.

    Still, there are often alternatives to potentially destructive drag-and-drop operations.
  • 1
    My mouse drops out countless times per day, I've stopped drag/drop because it's highly unpredictable and can be constant for a good 5-10 minutes when it does do it.
  • 4
    I have a great solution, don't use "gui":
    cp file new_location/
  • 1
    @jonas-w Then I would need to copy and paste the paths into the terminal, which is significantly slower. Some terminals also support file path pasting via drag-and-drop, but that would defeat the purpose of not wanting to use drag-and-drop.

    I indeed frequently manage files using the terminal (e.g. date selection with wildcards), but sometimes drag & drop is just faster. Not just for file operations, but also for uploading files to a web site.
  • 1
    @exerceo is your keyboard broken? Just type it out with tab autocomplete lol. We all want stuff to be perfect ie drag and drop, which it isn’t, but shy away from the extra work that has to be done to get around it in the first place? 🤔
  • 1
    @jonas-w they are not linux virgins though
  • 2
    CLI has no freezing problems.
    And in the event it does, freezes don’t really affect anything.
  • 1
    @exerceo Drag-and-drop is a lie. If you want truth, use the CLI. If you want the made-up, unnatural, but notably convenient world of drag-and-drop, learn to accept the imperfections. They're not a consequence of the implementation, they're a consequence of the lie.
  • 0
    @ScribeOfGoD When my operating system partition is full, meaning I need to transfer files out, tab auto-completion fails. Each time I press ↹Tab, it spits out the error "bash: cannot create temp file for here-document: No space left on device". So it lets me down when I need it most.
  • 0
    Every time in Windows explorer when I drag a file and accidentally hover over a mounted network share that I cannot access (Home NAS) explorer goes: 'Gotta connect to that now, for sure!' and hangs until the attempted connection times out. Could be better.
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