So tell me, what do you call the object drawn in this picture, taken from a popular Linux operating system?
Say my name.
Evil GUI bloat
The ugly truth.
It’s a file.
Everything is a file!!
This mouse? Believe it or not, file.
I’ve always enjoyed this about my pathetic attempts to get into *nix, but what are directors, then? Are they somehow a ‘file’ as well?
Honest question - I’m just a Windows doofus
Logically, everything stored to disc is a file. There are no physical folds or branching on a harddrive’s platter. Everything is (this is simplified) listed one at a time, end to end sequentially. A directory is just a special text file that lists all the addresses to files that are logically “inside of it”.
With journaling file systems (aka modern file systems), this is either replaced or superceeded by the journal.
Moreso, in Linux, most things are also logically treated as files. In Windows, some settings are stored in a special database known as the registry–Linux has not. It just has text files. In windows, devices are in the device manager, in Linux, devices are just another directory. In Windows you have a special task manager to view open processes, in Linux we have /proc which is a virtual directory. Windows: user permissions are managed with the active directory application. Linux: file permissions. etc.
This means, instead of using special apps to view things, you can, if so inclined, just navigate and look at files using the usual terminal.
Though to add: many things in your file system are listed as “files” in a directory, but are completely virtual with varying ways on what they do when written to/read from. (Also, linux has streams and files, not only files) E.g. /dev/null will read zeros, and discard data written to. But it has no physical backing.
The academic truth.
Do people actually get mad over that? Why?
I feel like the only people who actually care are the type who wrap their entire personality around which OS they use
“I use arch btw”
Arch is bloat, I use Linux from scratch (by the way)
AkTuAlLy iT’s GnU + linUX
“I use Linux as my operating system,” I state proudly to the unkempt, bearded man. He swivels around in his desk chair with a devilish gleam in his eyes, ready to mansplain with extreme precision. “Actually”, he says with a grin, "Linux is just the kernel. You use GNU+Linux!’ I don’t miss a beat and reply with a smirk, “I use Alpine, a distro that doesn’t include the GNU coreutils, or any other GNU code. It’s Linux, but it’s not GNU+Linux.”
The smile quickly drops from the man’s face. His body begins convulsing and he foams at the mouth and drops to the floor with a sickly thud. As he writhes around he screams “I-IT WAS COMPILED WITH GCC! THAT MEANS IT’S STILL GNU!” Coolly, I reply “If windows was compiled with gcc, would that make it GNU?” I interrupt his response with “-and work is being made on the kernel to make it more compiler-agnostic. Even you were correct, you wont be for long.”
With a sickly wheeze, the last of the man’s life is ejected from his body. He lies on the floor, cold and limp. I’ve womansplained him to death.
Working in tech for over 15 years, with Linux professionally and I’ve never encountered someone upset about it.
I’ve only see people upset on social media/forums.
I call them folders (especially with normies) with no regret. Fight me!
I use them interchangeably and I’ve never had a layperson get that glassy eyed stare they get when I talk about IT stuff they don’t understand.
You’re all wrong. The official term is “foldirectory”.
Do the power move and call them dictionaries.
Alternatively you fully commit to it and alias cf to cd
I think when I’m in terminal I call them directories but otherwise I’ll click and open a folder in my file manager
I’ve been using nothing but Linux at home and work for 20 years and it’s news to me that these words are not equal synonyms.
But they’re called both in all operating systems. Windows command line has a dir command.
Amiga Workbench called them drawers. I’m sticking with drawers.
