[kde-doc-english]Re: Folder/Directory

[Thomas Diehl]

Am Donnerstag, 9. Mai 2002 19:49 schrieb Michel Loos:

> In the beginning (Win pre-95) folders and directories where 2 different
> things: You where able to organize your files in folders while they were
> still in the same DOS directory: therefore they needed another word.
>
> On the first macs there was nearly no directories at all on the HD only
> the organization in folders in the GUI, accessing the HD in an other way
> you had a flat structure, just like the win3 folders.
>
> In fact the organization in folders has nearly dissapeared all systems
> use directories.
>
> We can keep folder for historical reasons, but directory would be much
> better.

I must admit the relevance of this for the decision at hand is totally 
beyond me. I can understand (and even share the sentiment) if somebody 
says: "directory" is the traditional Linux/Unix thing. KDE is Linux/Unix 
after all. Let's keep consistence and stick to our roots.

But the main thing we are talking here is user perception: which term may be 
clearer to the people out there, which one is more widely used in existing 
GUIs, more likely to be expected therefore, more consistent with what our 
icon artists are doing etc. Do you really think a piece of ancient computer 
history hardly anybody of these users ever heard of (or cared about) should 
really be a factor in that decision? I don't think so.

Words change their meaning all the time. There is even a washing powder 
called "Linux". Should this also be a factor when discussing eg kernel 
issues? Don't think so either. Happily, most people don't think of washing 
powder when they hear the term "Linux" these days.

Regards,

Thomas


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