Re: folder vs. directory

["Eugene O'Connor" <eugene oconnor sun com>]

Hi Sasha,

I think both occurrences of [folder|directory] below are specific
references to the structure of the file system, so I would use directory
in both cases.

When I was looking into this I realised that it is no longer possible to
specify a "home location" in Nautilus preferences. And your "home
location" is set to your HOME environment variable by default - is that
correct? So it is no longer possible to use the UI to change your "home
location" to something other than the location specified in your HOME
environment variable.

If the above is true, then I can remove all references to "home
location" and use "home folder" instead. At the first occurrence of
"home folder" I can clarify that this is the same thing as your home
directory. And perhaps I could add "home folder" as a term to the UG
glossary.

What do you think?

Eugene


Alexander Kirillov wrote:
> 
> I still find this quite confusing. E.g., what should I use in sentences
> like
> 
> "Your configuration settings are stored in [folder|directory] .gnome in
> your home [folder|directory]"
> 
> I am not describing GUI - but if I use word "directory", I'll confuse
> users, since in User Guide, there is no mention of "home directory" but
> only "home location" and "home folder"...
> 
> Sasha
> 
> On Sun, 2002-10-06 at 12:41, John Fleck wrote:
> > On Sat, 2002-10-05 at 13:15, Christian Neumair wrote:
> > > Hi there!
> > > Maybe some of you asked themselves the same question:
> > > Why do we use folder instead of directory in applications like Nautilus?
> > > I assume that this was introduced to make it easier for people who used
> > > to run Windows on their computer. I think it's totally inconsistent to
> > > make a difference between graphical and console applications in
> > > terminology.
> > >
> >
> > Because the purpose of the graphical interface is to abstract away the
> > underlying complexity, and the graphical interface has long used the
> > folder metaphor:
> >
> > http://developer.gnome.org/documents/style-guide/apas05.html
> >
> > "directory
> >
> >     Definition:
> >
> >  A special type of file that enables you to organize other files into a
> >  hierarchical structure. Only use the term directory when you make
> >  specific references to the structure of the file system."
> >
> > "folder
> >
> >     Definition:
> >
> >  A representation of a directory in a graphical program. Use the term
> >  folder when you document programs that use folder icons to represent
> >  directories."
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> > John
> >
> > (adding gnome-doc-list to the cc's)
> > --
> > John Fleck
> > jfleck inkstain net (h) jfleck abqjournal com (w)
> > http://www.inkstain.net http://www.abqjournal.com
> >
> > "Sometimes, a diner is all about the mac and cheese."
> >   - Zippy the Pinhead
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > gnome-doc-list mailing list
> > gnome-doc-list gnome org
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-doc-list
> 
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