[Users] Please revert "make Go to/[Next|Prev] sort order aware"

[Olivier Brunel]

Hi all,

So 3.15.0 was just released, and with it some changes that, while I
don't know the exact motivations for, I think were meant to make things
more consistent or met users expectations, but alas turned out to be
misguided and resulted in opposite behavior.

Specifically, the idea of making the "Go to Previous/Next" features
sort order aware. It might sound like a good idea, but it is just wrong
- as in, incorrect.

Because now the button to go next, with the arrow pointing downwards,
might actually - and unexpectedly - go up the list. And I can hear you
about "on purpose" and "sort order", but it's irrelevent.

When one asks to go to the next unread message, it means two things:
"unread" says it should be unread, and "next" means it should be next
on the list, i.e. lower, and that regardless of the current sort order.

The first item on a list is always on top, and the last one at the
bottom. And to go from first to last, go you down the list by moving to
the next item, and the next, and so on. How the list is sorted, if in
fact at all, doesn't matter.

Imagine you're writing code, and have a list of items. You sort that
list, by item's date descendingly. Now which item do you expect to find
first/on top of the list? The more recent one, indeed. And you go to the
slightly older one by going to the *next* item, of course.

Doesn't matter what language you're using, what application you're
using, what the items represent or how sorted the list is, that's
(always) how it works. The current behavior in claws 3.15.0 makes
things unexpected, unpredictable, and confusing.


When enterring a folder and asking to select the *last* item/message,
it is just wrong - a bug - that claws might, depending on sort order,
select the *first* item (on top). No, sort order doesn't matter.

Besides, this also seem to imply an assumption that sort order is
date-based. What is I sort by size? color label? or whether
messages have attachments or not? Or does that refer to which
item/message is "last"? What if the list isn't sorted at all?

If I sort by size descendingly, I'm specifically asking that the first
message be the largest one, and the next one be smaller, and the next
even smaller, and so on. So stop forcing your idea that next equals
larger, especially when I asked/specified otherwise.


Let me put it another way: you don't know better than I do what I
want/need, and that's why you gave me an option - the sort order - so I
can make/express my choice. Now, please respect it.

Thank you.