I typically call them folders when going through the GUI and directories when using CLI.
I never realized I subconsciously did this until your pointing it out. Huh. Thanks for that insight I suppose, haha
Exactly my thoughts.
well it sorta just makes sense, the gui presents it as a folder, you can move things around in it like a folder, conceptually it presents them in a way to make you think they are physical things stored in a physical folder/box. cli it really just feels like you are using a string of characters indicating the desired file, it feels more like a directory that way, even if it always really is that way, just showcased differently in the gui.
brain doing brainy things, strings/lines vs pictures/labels
This is a fact.
To move a folder (gui), you just do it. To move a directory (cli) you have to implicitly say you want the contents too.
Been using Linux as my primary OS for (counts on fingers)… decades now. Called them folders the whole time. Never had a problem with it. Nobody who matters cares.
Until now, i care a ton!
Oh wait, “Nobody who matters”
dang, nevermindExactly, thank you. My thought when seeing this was “who the fuck cares?”
I care.
In parlance I have found you can say ‘what directory is that folder in?’ If you want to have a user give you a full path.
You make and use folders
I make directories and call them folders anyway
We are not the same
WELL ACKSHUALLY
The real hard Linux nerds will just call them files
Everything. Is. A. File.
No one cares
As long as you don’t call it a path.
Always have, and always will! /waves old man cane around in a threatening manner
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
So what’s the difference?
My intuition is that
directory
is the older term and refers to something existing on the file system whilefolder
can be that but also includes “virtual folders” that group together different files from across the file system like when photo manager shows you categories like ‘recently viewed’ or ‘taken in 2023’.None.
Uhhh directories are files where other files are stored in a computer, folders are pieces of paper used to store pieces of paper (or a file used to store another files in a computer)
folders are only considered files in linux, in windows, its a mess
something about not unix operating systems not being valid
obligatory mansplaining that Linux is not Unix
obligatory its a Unix system, I know this
A directory outside of computing is simply a list of items with a common characteristic. A list of names at an apartment building for example.
Directory is the older term, but when they started making computers user friendly they needed a friendlier word for it. Folders make sense because people understand putting files in folders in real life.
Aha, to me it’s an apt metaphors as files go into folders and it fits with the whole desktop analogy.
meh. folder is 2 syllables, directory is like 4. I’m lazy. If someone gave me a clear one syllable alternative that others would know what I meant (even if while cringing), i’d probably start using that instead. I’ve tried just “dir”, but no one ever knows wtf i’m saying.
I just use “dir” about 90% of the time.
Yep, while this meme is funny and in jest. If someone actually seriously gave me shit for saying “folder” or “directory” I would have to ask them what Stallman’s toe nails actually taste like. Because that is up there with his level of being rigid about something that I just can’t stand.
I do agree, but I do double check how I wrote and what I wrote when replying on GitHub 😁.
Me when I don’t say inodes to refer to folders in iOS:
da fuck?
Dumb joke, iKnow
- iFolder
- Air Directory
I’m referring to folders as iFolders from now on
Ew, inodes is pretty cringe. :(
I only call them by inode. Scoffs
everything in my home directory is a folder, everything outside of that is a directory
And interestingly enough the home directory itself falls outside of itself
I mix and match. I used to have an Amiga back in the day, and they were called directories there. As such, most of my parlance is from those days. But most of my work life has been on Windows. So, folder has sneaked into everyday usage.
In our forum you just give the coordinates in your woven core memory…
alias cf=cd
Note: I don’t actually do this. I’m not a monster.
Cloud foundry? Not familiar with cf
Given that
cd
is “change directory,” I assumecf
is meant to be “change folder.”Yes and it’s telling the computer to treat cf as if it was cd