On 19 Apr 2002, at 17:05, David Froom wrote: > On 4/19/02 4:41 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I was still confusing OSX w. OS9. However, even OS 9 has a folder hierarchy > > I consider bizarre: why would anyone want to keep a document separate from > > the application that created it? The folders in any GUI represent a > > taxonomy, and it should be one that is relevant to the way the machine is > > actually used. A root-level segregation of apps. from docs. is a > > programmer's taxonomy, not a user's. > > The reason that the applications are separate from the users area is that > OSX is designed to be a multi-user system. The idea is that the things at > the root level are to be shared by anyone using the computer, and the > individual users would have exclusive control over their own preferences, > documents, etc. For single users, the advantage of this setup is that > system restores or upgrades leave your preferences and documents alone, that > backups can mostly be just of your user folder, and that you could bring > your user folder to another machine and quickly recreate your personal > working environment (assuming the applications are the same). So, > segregating apps from docs is something that can be of great advantage to a > user.
Well, I've always segregated document and program files, long before I ever had a nominally multi-user OS. The reason is simple: backups. If you have a top-level data folder and a top-level programs folder, you really only need to do a backup of the data folder on a daily basis, as programs can be re-installed (except for customized settings). In fact, on this computer, I have a separate drive volume for my OS (C:\), a drive for my programs (D:\) and a drive for my data (E:\). That's partly an artifact of having partitioned my machine back in the days before 32-bit FAT so that I wouldn't have lots of slack space (that is, so the data would be stored as efficiently as possible), but I like the organization. On my newer machine, the OS is on drive C:\ and the programs and data are in two separate folders on my D:\ drive (D:\Programs and D:\Data, naturally). Another reason for this is that I don't think of my data files as relating to the program that created them, but as relating to the subject of the data in the files. As I'm a computer consultant, this mostly means that I have folders for my clients and all the data files, Word documents, Excel files, Access databases and everything associated with that client, goes in a single folder. All my programs use the top-level data folder as their default location, and I file in the relevant sub- folder. If I were storing files under the directory of the application that created them, I'd have to have a complete set of client folders in each application folder. Before I was an independent computer consultant, I still organized my files by topic, basically relating to my research. But, of course, each of us has his own working style. One thing with OS X, though -- since it's a UNIX, you can create aliases, and put pointers to the real locations of the files in the locations you want to see them and they will behave like the real thing. This means you can have your cake and eat it, too, once you learn how to use them! -- David W. Fenton | http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates | http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
