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The problem is that digital file systems are digital versions of the physical file systems that we are all familiar with. Most notably these don't let one file
by foobarbazqux 13y ago
The problem is that digital file systems are digital versions of the physical file systems that we are all familiar with. Most notably these don't let one file be in two folders at the same time. But our mental file system does work like this. By this I mean that the same memory can be reached by multiple routes. Couldn't you design a filesystem that was a flat database with file metadata being used to both browse and search for files, thus avoiding the need for tree hierarchies in current systems? Wouldn't this be closer to our mental model? Crucially, could you develop software like this?
- krichman 13y agoBut you can (on Unix) put the same file in two places using ln[1]. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ln_(Unix) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ln_(Unix)
- foobarbazqux 13y agoYou're right, and good point, I didn't think about hardlinks or symlinks. I guess you could do what I was suggesting by having one directory that contains every file and then creating links to them in different folders.
- Millennium 13y agoThat's what a lot of filesystems do behind the scenes, especially Unix-style ones.