Bug 71270 - use of word directory instead of folder: different terminology in different themes?
Summary: use of word directory instead of folder: different terminology in different t...
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Alias: None
Product: konqueror
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Compiled Sources Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Konqueror Developers
URL:
Keywords:
: 74395 89170 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2003-12-26 21:21 UTC by Paul Mitcheson
Modified: 2008-11-12 10:10 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


Attachments

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Paul Mitcheson 2003-12-26 21:21:19 UTC
Version:            (using KDE Devel)
Installed from:    Compiled sources
OS:          Linux

Dear All,

The "create new" menu available in konqueror and on kdesktop now displays "folder" as an option instread of directory.

This makes the interface less coherent: the unix comand line tools for managing directories, are just that, mkdir, pwd etc etc and not mkfolder and pwf.

I imagine this has been done to come into line with microsoft windows, which does indeed use the word folder and not directory in its interface. However, you are doing an excellent job of building a desktop for unix, so let's keep to the proper unix terms. 

Anyway, I gather this has been discussed on mailing lists previously, but IMHO the wrong terminology won, remembering that this is a desktop for unix.

OK, onto how we can perhaps come to some greement over this.  There appear to be two types of users of kde.  Those who know unix and use kde ontop of unix because they prefer unix to the alternatives, and those who have come to kde from a windows/apple background.

I suggest thet the former group would prefer unix terminology to be coherent upto the gui, and perhaps the latter group would prefer the use of windows terminology.

Perhaps as one of the configuration options for kde 3.3 we can have an option:

"Use UNIX terminology" or "Use Windows terminology"

I suggest this because I think there might well be other places where incohernet naming may come into the desktop (althought I cannot at the momentgive an example).

Of course, my absolute preference is that the incoherency is simply fixed, but I gather this is unlikely because it has been discussed already, so I suggest the configuration option as an alternative.

Best regards,

Paul
Comment 1 Nathaniel Taylor 2004-01-01 02:11:58 UTC
True.  I was horrified to see this change, and the ugly "New Folder" default filename (a space in it, copying another, worse GUI exactly!).
Please stick to directory, for consistency, or if you really feel you must change, then give the above-mentioned configuration option of proper or cross-platform-mimiccing terminology.

I well appreciate that there must be some users who want copies of some familiar (to them) desktop.  Then either put this as a non-default kde option, perhaps with a decision in the first-login program, OR just leave it to OS distributors to do.  They are well capable of messing up KDE by themselves, as recently well demostrated, and don't need KDE developers' help in this.

I really think the majority of users who get KDE directly (from source/rpm, not from a general purpose distro) will be the more technically literate users who want a good desktop that reflects the underlying OS they know.  It is more reasonable that these users should be catered for in the default system, as they each to to make changes to defaults rather than to rely o a distributor doing this just once.

Finally, KDE is really good!  I liked it more and more, and many changes in 3.2 are great improvements.  Please don't take notice of the other desktop environments that are optimised, if at all, for generally much less computer-literate users.  Infantile names, elementary options behind "Advanced" buttons, silly logout options ("Log in as different user") and so on should not be copied!  Stay original, and stay above all the others.


Comment 2 Maksim Orlovich 2004-02-06 20:27:30 UTC
*** Bug 74395 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 3 kavol 2004-04-15 19:26:07 UTC
http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html - can you find a single occurence of the word "folder" within that document?
see the linux kernel sources directory fs except fs/hfs and fs/hfsplus - can you find a single occurence of the word "folder" within the common un*x filesystems' drivers?

Please, do not introduce another incompatibility. Do not behave just like Micro$oft :-(
Comment 4 Maksim Orlovich 2004-09-09 21:35:10 UTC
*** Bug 89170 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 Lubos Lunak 2008-11-12 10:10:40 UTC
This was discussed e.g. in http://lists.kde.org/?t=106629914500002&r=1&w=2 . In short, folders are an UI abstraction that (most of the time but not always) maps to directories when it comes to implementation. KDE is not an operating system, it is GUI that is abstracting the OS below, whichever one that is, and one of the abstractions is the folder. KDE is also no longer Unix-only, and Windows has not been used as a main argument in that discussion, at most as one of the supporting arguments - in other words, this is not Windows terminology, this is KDE or GUI terminology. For this reason arguing with FHS or manual pages is not very relevant, as they refer to something (slightly) else than KDE UI.

And either way, nothing has happened with this bugreport for almost 5 years and I don't see a reason why that should change, so there is no point in keeping this report open and letting it rot. If you think an incorrect decision has been made, feel free to discuss it on a mailing list, bugzilla is not a good medium for such discussions.