Comment by oblio

4 days ago

Or accept the fact that we're in 2025 and not follow Unix conventions from when paper and printer ink were expensive and they were printing out listings, and just name the thing "source".

I've gotten used to it, obviously - as someone with a career in IT for 20 years - but /etc & co. annoy me to no end. I know it will never change, I know why it won't change, I know GoboLinux will be just an interesting experiment, but it's still annoying.

32 comments

oblio

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von_lohengramm  4 days ago

Have you considered that there are other metrics people are optimizing for nowadays? Perhaps typeability, screen real estate, familiarity/convention, etc.? Do you really want /User Files/Bob's Files/Coding Projects/Python Projects/Bob's Cool Python Library/Source Code/Model Files/SomeObject.py?

  • Propelloni  4 days ago

    Path length is still a thing in MS Windows, so be careful ;)

    • tracker1  4 days ago

      Depends on the WinAPI used... I still use C:/src instead of C:/Users/MyUser/src for that reason when working in windows all the same though. Too many unixy utils don't leverage the apis with the longer path, not to mention not supporting the internal certificate store and proxy config.

  • oblio  4 days ago

    1. Yes, I have, if you re-read my comment.

    2. I don't want to fight extreme positions which I did not make. Read this:

    https://gobolinux.org/at_a_glance.html

    I didn't say paths have to have spaces, etc. Just be reasonable and <<use full words in the year of our lord 2025>>.

    • eadmund  4 days ago

      Anything with a capital letter requires hitting two keys: Shift and then the desired letter. Thus /Programs requires 10 keystrokes rather than 9. Even worse, since the capital letter is at the beginning of the directory name, I have to type it and am unable to rely on tab-completion.

      /Programs with its ten keystrokes is over twice the keystrokes of /bin and its four. Short names are quicker to type and require less effort. Given that to a first approximation I spend my entire life typing on a keyboard, I very much wish to optimise that experience.

      4 replies →

    • jadamson  4 days ago

      The first shell listing starts with `cd` and `ls`, the former being run in `~`. What does that weird `~` mean? Very strange.

      More seriously, their file system is still case-sensitive, and inside /Programs they have `Iptables` and `Fontconfig`, naively capitalized, but also `OpenOffice` and `HTTPD`.

      Not to mention that inside each program folder are `man` and `bin` as usual. I'm going to suggest the point of that article is structure and organization, not naming.

      Nobody reasonable complains about a three-letter abbreviation you can type with one hand. For a path you're either accessing a lot or never at all, it makes complete sense.

    • codedokode  4 days ago

      What's wrong with spaces? Macs support them since 80s. The only problem with spaces is caused by *nix, *nix shells, basically by Linux.

    • HumanOstrich  4 days ago

      I think paths need to have emojis too in order to represent the emotional state of the person who created them in the year of our memelord 2025.

  • animuchan  4 days ago

    While we're at this, let's make it rich text please. I want the important filenames to be in bold italic Comic Sans MS.

pompous_1234  4 days ago 

    $HOME/accept/the/fact/that/were/in/2025/and/not/follow/unix/conventions/from/when/paper/and/printer/ink/were/expensive/and/they/were/printing/out/listings/and/just/name/the/thing/source/main.c

wahern  4 days ago

we're -> we are

I've -> I have

& -> and

co. -> company

won't -> will not

it's -> it is

globular-toast  4 days ago

Call it whatever you like. I don't care and that clearly wasn't the point of my comment.

One thing I've learnt, though, is unless you have a very good reason to try to change language you should just talk the same language as everyone else. I don't like the American short billion. It makes no sense and it's less useful. But that's what I use because I speak English and that's what we use now. If I see a src/ directory I know exactly what it is. If I see source/ it will give me pause. Get over it IMO.

  • oblio  4 days ago

    > If I see a src/ directory I know exactly what it is. If I see source/ it will give me pause.

    Pause for what, coffee? How does this even make sense?

    What could possibly be inside source/, if not the exact same thing as in src/?

    • von_lohengramm  4 days ago

      While the meaning of "source" may be intuitively obvious, it's still relatively unfamiliar as "src" is far more prevalent than "source" when referring to source files. While "id est" may be equivalent to "i.e.", you'd still naturally pause when reading text using the former instead of the latter, because the latter is far more prevalent in usage than the former.

HumanOstrich  4 days ago

/Library/System/Applications/Core/Security/Daemons.app/Framework/Version 4.6.2/Let's not go full Apple please.