3 ms·

What I learned is CP/M, the first versions of MS DOS, including this MSX-DOS, did not have directories. Just a flat list of files. Weird.

toast0 3y ago
When you've only a bit of storage, directories aren't that important. If you've got enough stuff, a disk as a directory mostly works. It's only when you start having high capacity (5mb or so) fixed drives that directories are really needed.
- 3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
  Makes me wonder what other ways we could've gone other than hierarchical.
  - andrewshadura 3y ago
    Well, CP/M actually had a number of "user areas", the default one being USER 0. Some tools actually used that to simulate directories (AFAIR they kept the number to name mapping in a hidden file somewhere).
  - TillE 3y ago
    Once you have the basic concept of a filesystem, mapping names to chunks of data, I think directories are a natural extension. It's an aid to both the human and the computer.
fredoralive 3y ago
It’s not an unknown limitation for floppy disc only file systems to not have subdirectory support, you only have 80-400KB[1] of data on the disc so can’t have too many files on a disc anyway. Why waste precious RAM and disc space (either in FS metadata overhead, or just more DOS code) on a feature that isn’t really vital? I think Apple II DOS 3.x is the same (and also on the original Mac FS although it was hidden by the UI). Once hard drives began to become reasonably affordable it became a problem so you get updated systems like MS-DOS 2, ProDOS etc. [1] by the time high density floppies came out newer file systems were available.
Sharlin 3y ago
Floppies were your directories, in a very tangible sense. Filesystem directories only became a relevant feature when hard drive support was added in MS-DOS 2.0.
p_l 3y ago
MS-DOS 2.0 bringing in hierarchical directories, pipes, and few other things (all credited to Unix) is considered by some the point where CP/M actually lost. Before, DOS was playing catch up by ease of porting from CP/M, afterwards it was actually bringing in new features users wanted.
zmmmmm 3y ago
Full circle, now we have cloud storage made of buckets which are just flat lists of keys (which sometimes pretend to have directories by putting slashes in the keys ...)

toast0 3y ago

When you've only a bit of storage, directories aren't that important. If you've got enough stuff, a disk as a directory mostly works. It's only when you start having high capacity (5mb or so) fixed drives that directories are really needed.

3cats-in-a-coat 3y ago
Makes me wonder what other ways we could've gone other than hierarchical.
- andrewshadura 3y ago
  Well, CP/M actually had a number of "user areas", the default one being USER 0. Some tools actually used that to simulate directories (AFAIR they kept the number to name mapping in a hidden file somewhere).
- TillE 3y ago
  Once you have the basic concept of a filesystem, mapping names to chunks of data, I think directories are a natural extension. It's an aid to both the human and the computer.

fredoralive 3y ago

It’s not an unknown limitation for floppy disc only file systems to not have subdirectory support, you only have 80-400KB[1] of data on the disc so can’t have too many files on a disc anyway. Why waste precious RAM and disc space (either in FS metadata overhead, or just more DOS code) on a feature that isn’t really vital? I think Apple II DOS 3.x is the same (and also on the original Mac FS although it was hidden by the UI). Once hard drives began to become reasonably affordable it became a problem so you get updated systems like MS-DOS 2, ProDOS etc. [1] by the time high density floppies came out newer file systems were available.

Sharlin 3y ago

Floppies were your directories, in a very tangible sense. Filesystem directories only became a relevant feature when hard drive support was added in MS-DOS 2.0.

p_l 3y ago

MS-DOS 2.0 bringing in hierarchical directories, pipes, and few other things (all credited to Unix) is considered by some the point where CP/M actually lost. Before, DOS was playing catch up by ease of porting from CP/M, afterwards it was actually bringing in new features users wanted.

zmmmmm 3y ago

Full circle, now we have cloud storage made of buckets which are just flat lists of keys (which sometimes pretend to have directories by putting slashes in the keys ...)