On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 03:46:38PM +0100, Loris Bennett wrote: > Nicolas George <george@nsup.org> writes: > > > tomas@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): > >> The other is related: folder has become the culture of those > >> who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business > >> model is based on keeping you dumb. > > > > Ear, ear! > > > > Also, that metaphor is easy, but it is very shaky. In the physical > > world, I have *sometimes* seen a folder inside a folder, but a folder > > inside a folder inside a folder inside a folder… > > If I think of the main non-digital directory I have dealt with in my > life it was a telephone directory. That also did not contain further > directories within itself. Surely 'directory' is also just a more or > less apt metaphor, which may indeed be better if you have a technical > background or, as Greg correctly pointed out, if you are dealing with > the Unix command line. The point I'm trying to make here is that "directory" is better because it lets the users connect with the available documentation, thus offering them an easier path towards "dealing with the Unix command line". Using a different terminology makes their path more difficult. I actually don't care which metaphor is "better", but about the users actually trying to decipher a man page or some kernel doc or even kernel code. After all, it's EISDIR (that's the symbolic errno you get when trying to read(2) a directory), not EISFLDR. I am a free software person. My "business model" is about users getting smarter. We have this incredible gift that you and me and any user can go and have a look at the spot in the kernel source returning that error. How about lowering the threshold to that pleasure by using the right terminologyß > Regarding Tomas' assertion, I'm not sure I buy into the argument > regarding dumbing-down. I am presume it does go on, but I don't really > think that one is stepping on to Big Tech's slippery slope to stupidity > by calling a 'directory' a 'folder' any more one would be by calling a > pointing device a 'mouse' despite its rather limited resemblance to the > actual rodent. See above. There /is/ a difference. Not in how good or bad the metaphor is, but on the actual usage in this context. Cheers -- t
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