On Sun, Feb 9, 2020, at 22:23, Michael Staats wrote:
> On 10/02/2020 07:12, David Vincent-Jones wrote:
> > When I right mouse click on my XFCE desktop (or in my File Manager) it
> > offers the option of creating a new Folder (not Directory). Maybe it is
> > different on Patrick's system!
>
> The reason is that certain window systems try to be like MS-Windows. Sad
> but true.
I'm not sure how this became a topic for this list, but the following is my
attempt to put it to rest (not to perpetuate it!):
A directory is a feature of a filesystem, which does just what the name
implies: listing of filenames and information related to accessing them.
A "folder" is a common feature of many modern graphical shells. It represents
to the user something you can use in a certain way as a receptacle for dragging
or "pasting" graphically represented files, as well as for accessing them. The
thing behind the "folder" is often a directory, but by now may also be any sort
of "virtual directory" for some other (possibly network related) purpose... the
important thing is that it represents a *mode of use* to users of graphical
shells. Due to the overwhelming use of this analogy, it may sometimes be used
to refer to directories even without the specific context of a graphical shell,
but for native speakers at least, the actual meaning is very easily understood.
--
jys
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