"Folder" or "Directory"?

[Craig Drummond]

> Here are my reasons why I'm using directories and not folders:
> - - I learned this way. Before Windows 95 I haven't heard about folders...

OK. I came from the Atari world - always disliked MS windows - and this is
where I first saw the "folder" term/icon. This would be around 1990-ish.

> - - the directory handling commands and function all have "dir" in their 
> names. 
> mkdir & friends.

But this is more down to the specifics. KDE is abstracting away from this.

> - - Norton/Midnight/whatever Commander calls them directories
> - - Directory Opus has the directory in it's name...
> - - directories = folder and files = papers feels strange to me. I ca
> n't make 
> such a connection between them. How can a database file be a paper? How
> can
>  a 
> zip/tgz file be a paper? It may contain files and directories...

Yup I'll agree here as well. although I do prefer having 1 standard icon
(the paper) with an overlay for the type. but that's just my personal preference
- makes it easier to distinguish file from application, if all the files
have a similar appearance.  Plus, they are called "zip files", "video files",
etc.

> And about icons: a separate directory icon may make sense and would solve

I agree. But what would one look like? What is the real world equivalent of
the OS idea of a directory?

There's also the argument (not a very good one) - that most other OS's use
the term folder, and use a folder icon. MS windows and Mac OS both do this.

> 
> Andras

Craig.

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