> There really is a physical object corresponding to the pipe, and the "|" refers directly if tersely to that object. By that argument, there really is a physi

> There really is a physical object corresponding to the pipe, and the "|" refers directly if tersely to that object. By that argument, there really is a physical object corresponding to the desktop. That, too, is made up of pieces of memory. > It consists of an actual physical medium with various attributes Not necessarily. I mean, yes, ultimately it does because we live in a physical reality. But ultimately even I start think about a filesystem in my head it exists on a physical medium, my brain. Are the trees that modern filesystem usually consist of nowadays actual trees growing in my computer, or are they metaphors? Named after their biological counterpart because they roughly look and act like them in very specific aspects? Like a desktop, or a window? Are the "folders" or "directories" that you interact with in your shell actually those pieces of objects, or are they a metaphor? > The CLI is not a metaphor - it's an abstraction. It removes details that you don't need to know about (mostly), but provides you with a way to operate directly upon the objects (concepts) I don't see the distinction. The desktop provides you with a way to operate directly upon the objects/concepts of the OS. In both cases, there is usually a multitude of abstractions before you reach any actual physical object. > the way that the kernel of macOS isn't responsible for most of the way that desktop functions today [...] leaving the kernel to deal with the same sorts of objects you'd describe with the CLI You mean the same way the kernel is not responsible for the way the CLI functions? Why is an open() system call (which can refer to numerous virtual, abstract, immaterial things) more "real" when the piece of memory it has been passed has been collected through a multitude of abstractions and maybe originated from a sequence of keystrokes on a keyboard via USB, than if it had been collected through a multitude of abstractions and maybe originated from a sequence of mouse movements via USB?