I've been tinkering with a new complex search sidebar for Nautilus. I've decided that advanced search cannot really to simplified with a set of controls to help the user select options to make queries. I've nixed the user and owner clauses since Medusa is meant to index the user's home directory. Advanced search will have to be freely typed into a text entry. Now I could simplify the query operators. I could come up with a command line/code completion feature like good terminals and editors. But Seth has grander plans, and I should not do anything on this issue until I really understand what he wants to do.

The metadata database that Marco and I have been discussing (a summary of Sutra is available) shares a lot of ideas that Seth has been exploring. I think it's time for me to sign up as Seth's toady (AKA sub-commander sparky) since his plans are more mature. I still want to deliver search for GNOME 2.6, so I'll need to finish black boxing Medusa's search controls, then decide what parts can be switched to the new DB. In my original plan, I wasn't going to switch the DB until after 2.6, but since one might be ready to go, I might be able to do this sooner. I strongly feel that Medusa and what ever it becomes needs an incremental indexer to discover data changes on the filesystem--I'll lobby to get this one completed for 2.6.