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Are Files Ready to Change?

Some of David Gelernter's oft quoted file ideas: "Modern computing is based on an analogy between computers and file cabinets that is fundamentally wrong and affects nearly every move we make. (We store "files" on disks, write "records," organize files into "folders" — file-cabinet language.) Computers are fundamentally unlike file cabinets because they can take action." "Our standard policy on file names has far-reaching consequences: doesn't merely force us to make up names where no name is called for; also imposes strong limits on our handling of an important class of documents — ones that arrive from the outside world. A newly-arrived email message (for example) can't stand on its own as a separate document — can't show up alongside other files in searches, sit by itself on the desktop, be opened or printed independently; it has no name, so it must be buried on arrival inside some existing file (the mail file) that does have a name. The same holds for incoming photos and faxes, Web bookmarks, scanned images..." "You shouldn't have to put files in directories. The directories should reach out and take them. If a file belongs in six directories, all six should reach out and grab it automatically, simultaneously." "A file should be allowed to have no name, one name or many names. Many files should be allowed to share one name. A file should be allowed to be in no directory, one directory, or many directories. Many files should be allowed to share one directory. Of these eight possibilities, only three are legal and the other five are banned — for no good reason." It begs the question if files and the core systems on which they are read/stored are ready to change? And will it be a start-up that makes the leap, or a lonely computer scientist who has no stake in the market? http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/gelernter/gelernter_index.html

namank 14y ago
Yes, I've been thinking about file management problem for a while too now. Most of my files belong in multiple directories. Right now I have to make multiple links in multiple directories and I hate it every time I have to do it. Because of the nature of the info I deal with, sometimes I forget all relevant directories. This problem is akin to tagging a blog post. I think that analogy could be used to solve this problem. Though the idea of a central file manager doesn't excite me, one solution would be to have a database handle all your file transactions. This could ask you to tag a file every time you create a new one or edit+close an old one. You, as a user, will never actually see the folder list unless the GUI was designed to facilitate this. Another issue is directory structure. Traditionally, I've organized directories based on categories but I don't remember how I classified the file if I go looking for it a year later. And what when a file belongs in multiple directories? These days, I've gotten rid of multiple directories and instead opt for a particular naming convention like category_subCategory_fileName . Not only does this reduce my cognitive load to figure out/remember where I stored the file but it also allows for faster access since I can user the keyboard to quickly scroll down to the category_ and do a visual inspection of sub categories and filenames. This works very well for me. This technique doesn't work as well through command line though. I need to keep tabbing and sometime the tab returns to many results to parse through - directories are perfect for CLI. I LOVE the Mac Preview, its a must have. When it comes to software design, I still use multiple directories instead of categories but thats only because all my tools facilitate the use of directories.

namank 14y ago

Yes, I've been thinking about file management problem for a while too now. Most of my files belong in multiple directories. Right now I have to make multiple links in multiple directories and I hate it every time I have to do it. Because of the nature of the info I deal with, sometimes I forget all relevant directories. This problem is akin to tagging a blog post. I think that analogy could be used to solve this problem. Though the idea of a central file manager doesn't excite me, one solution would be to have a database handle all your file transactions. This could ask you to tag a file every time you create a new one or edit+close an old one. You, as a user, will never actually see the folder list unless the GUI was designed to facilitate this. Another issue is directory structure. Traditionally, I've organized directories based on categories but I don't remember how I classified the file if I go looking for it a year later. And what when a file belongs in multiple directories? These days, I've gotten rid of multiple directories and instead opt for a particular naming convention like category_subCategory_fileName . Not only does this reduce my cognitive load to figure out/remember where I stored the file but it also allows for faster access since I can user the keyboard to quickly scroll down to the category_ and do a visual inspection of sub categories and filenames. This works very well for me. This technique doesn't work as well through command line though. I need to keep tabbing and sometime the tab returns to many results to parse through - directories are perfect for CLI. I LOVE the Mac Preview, its a must have. When it comes to software design, I still use multiple directories instead of categories but thats only because all my tools facilitate the use of directories.