3 ms·
which I would love to see a return to from the wrong and infantilizing "folders". Probably too late. I work with nice guys, progammers in their late 20s, mid-
by bdunbar 14y ago
which I would love to see a return to from the wrong and infantilizing "folders".
Probably too late. I work with nice guys, progammers in their late 20s, mid-30s, who have only ever known those as 'folders'.
By convention at work if it's on a unix-y OS it's a directory, if Windows it's a folder. It's just easier that way.
- shanselman 14y agoGood distinction. I hear Mac folks uses both, usually depending on where they started.
- rufus_t 14y agoI use both myself, depending on whether I'm using the mouse or a terminal, i.e. I "open a folder" but "list a directory". I've heard others do the same.
- zerohp 14y agoSome of us in our 30's still remember them being called drawers on the Amiga.
- TillE 14y agoIf you're in your late 20s (and a computer nerd), you probably grew up with DOS: CD, DIR, etc. Besides, if you're a programmer on Windows, even if you're really young and started with .NET, I'm pretty sure the API and the MSDN docs still consistently use "directory" throughout. See, eg: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.directory.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.directory....
- tkahn6 14y agoI'm 20. I heard both terms used interchangeably while I was learning how to use computers and I use them interchangeably in the course of discussion now.
- nollidge 14y agoI tend to use "folder" just because it's known by everyone, whereas "directory" is only going to be known by geeks.
- tripzilch 14y agoI need to remind myself to say "folder" because the kids (8-12) I teach probably won't get it if I say "directory"--and then getting them to grasp the concept of local and remote files (for making websites) ... in the presence of the way-too-useful-not-to-have but again completely different concept of "Dropbox folder" ... :D GREAT FUN!! No, really :) And yes, the floppy disk. Whenever I want to feel old I ask one of them if they know what that icon is, and whether they ever seen one. Best answer: "Yes ... I think I saw one at my grandmother's house ..." Then I tell them it would fit barely half an mp3 and tell them how many you'd need for the same storage as this 2GB Micro-SD the size of my fingernail :D I love living in the future!