Put another way: it's usually a waste of time to optimize for edge cases.
Judges know this too, and it's why, at least in America, the judge and the jury have leeway in the sentencing, as opposed to just looking up a required penalty in a hard list. Our system relies on both laws and equity, and for good reason. Almost two millennia ago Aristotle argued for both approaches in order to show that they both fail in certain ways.
So we have a thread declaring all lawyers to be evil, and then the obligatory call to simplify the law, and the parent to your post, who, to be fair, was only reacting to the previous comment. But the generalizations are flying fast here and no one's going to get anywhere trying to fix things that law students learn are philosophically separate in their first week.
The system that you describe...trial by a jury of your peers, clear rules, people expected to keep their word. It sounds nice, but are you sure that we don't have it already?
TBH if I have to screw around with dot-files in a GUI I like it to be Windows because I know it absolutely won't hide them. But then there's the problem of it not using Unix permissions...sigh.
I'm going to assume that the guys who modded this informative have a hard drive full of files like -rw-r--r--@_1_myname_users_1903_May_9_18:00_addressbook.csv...
If the filetype was stored in a fork (as opposed to the way ID3 tags are done) then I don't see why there would be a huge speed difference. The name has to be looked up too, after all.
As for searching by.JPG, image/jpeg would be a suitably specific replacement. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that what you listed aren't criteria that are specific to file extensions.
Microsoft loves strange binary formats. I mean, they collectively as a company have romantic feelings about wacky binary formats. You are asking the impossible. They will use XML to contain info about a versioning scheme that's independent of whatever they used previously, then a tag called "shortcut" that will contain the binary-format link file.
To be fair, the situation with Mac plist files (like reg keys but not stored in a single massive hive of fail) isn't much better. From what I remember they tried to go completely XML but had speed issues so now you have both.
DOSShell was my first thing resembling a GUI (not counting a couple of different 3rd-party attempts) that I'd used, and I believe it had the tree on the left. But I was happy to use Windows once it arrived on the scene.
I tried to get into the Commander style for a while, but I can't get used to it. It's great for a series of complicated file transfers, but other than that, I don't find myself needing it.
I wouldn't say that the tree-on-left or even a complete multiple pane setup is better or worse. But I will say that at this point I think the people who prefer those setups are in more of a niche and there is still plenty of good third-party software for that.
OS X, for all the crappiness of Finder, does excel in one area here: the tree view is a real tree view that includes files. And you can expand one folder's contents without the last one hiding again. So it's sort of a multi-pane setup, except you can move the panes around because they're windows:)
For GUI elements I can see that being an eventuality but with icons you can always just use a picture larger than what's intended.
In fact, including pictures for various size targets is easier on the artist than trying to do "hinting"* for a vector. A lot of icons are drawn as vectors to begin with, and one fine day it'll maybe go straight from artist to desktop, but using bitmaps as intermediaries is not the worst thing in the world.
I know that, at least with Gnome, SVG icons are usable today. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any that I'd actually want to use. I tried lots of SVG wallpaper with KDE at one point, and anything remotely complex takes forever to load up, at which point it probably gets cached as a bitmap anyway. Anything icon-related usually looks great on OS X and the solution has always been to just throw huge bitmaps at it. It works.
In summary, bitmap =/= fail but like you I can't wait for a day when everything (that can be) is vector.
* Scaling up and retaining the look is easy...down, not so much.
Generally speaking, no. But it is possible to just store the extra information in another file, along with a naming standard so that the recipient's OS invisibly merges the two on receipt.
Macs already do this...AFAIK when I send another Mac user a zipped folder, they are getting not only the files but at least some usable metadata.
You could also use a filesystem image, provided that the recipient is capable of mounting the image. When the file is moved from the image to the host filesystem, if the two are not compatible then the mounting software/driver could make the conversion. I think.
sitting as icons...You can use a different icon for a different filetype, and use previews where possible. OS X as well as Windows hide associated extensions, I usually only unhide if there's a problem, and even then I can just drop to a CLI.
attachment to an email...the email has the MIME types, so a decent client will be fine there (and be less susceptible to the type of trojan in TFA)
Links to download a few more on the website I was just at...This one you've got me on. I don't think there's a solution to this that isn't needlessly complicated.
"Open Recent" menu item...Add a column for filetype. What if.eps means Epic Poetry Stanza instead of Encapsulated Postscript? There's a lot that three letters won't tell you.
By embedding the type into the name, its ALWAYS there...In a limited and ambiguous (collision-prone) way.
I get what you're saying but I think that file extensions are definitely a stone-age approach to metadata and it's not that crazy to imagine history going differently and people using more precision in this matter.
But having that information in links without any extra work on the website author's part is definitely a nice thing. Not that it couldn't be accounted for with a cultural change, but there might be more negatives than positives for that scenario.
Either you trust the metadata, or you trust the file extension (which led to TFA). If you don't trust it, then you read the file in such a way that you're sure nothing will execute as a result. A hex editor, if you're so inclined.
The trust issue has nothing to do with whether a file extension or something like a fork is used.
You could probably do this on a Mac, too. There is no security against a user that's insistent on running a trojan and has the privileges needed to do so. I know at least a few people who've installed fake anti-virus programs, and even one who paid for one. You'd think it'd be common sense to verify that an instruction is coming from a trustworthy source before following it, but some people will always be easy marks and there's not much you can do for them short of a hard slap to the face.
As far as telling a document from an app: Windows and OS X both prompt you before launching a recently-downloaded executable. Linux users should be using repositories.
I guess I just think that "design flaw" is a little harsh. The holes in a toaster are large enough to jam your hand into, but I wouldn't call that a design flaw, just lack of monkeyproofing.
Maybe, maybe not. I'm an American too, and you'd better believe I know all the lyrics to my country's anthem. Better not to speak for others in matters of ignorance.
If he's willing to pay for the help then they should provide it. But to me "customer service" means whatever comes with the product in terms of a warranty or built-in support.
I'm sure that in this situation you could find someone who's an authorized dealer who could source the part. But you'll be paying them for their time...which makes you their customer. On the other hand, you wouldn't be a Dell customer unless you bought something from them.
Six months isn't too much of a delay for a bunch of people who were essentially learning the manufacturing side of it as they went along. Their real problem was having too tight of a promised schedule. Luckily for them, the Wiz doesn't seem to be coming along any faster.
I never thought at any point in the process that there was any vapor. There were some worries on the forums, but it's mostly youngsters there...in fact, the collective impatience (and the slowing trickle of GP2X releases) has kept me from going back until it ships and people have constructive things to say. I'll be glad when mine shows up on my doorstep, my guess is late summer.
And I'll be even more glad as beefier ARM solutions like Cortex gain even more traction in devices that size and work their way up to netbooks.
Slashdot Mirror
Put another way: it's usually a waste of time to optimize for edge cases.
Judges know this too, and it's why, at least in America, the judge and the jury have leeway in the sentencing, as opposed to just looking up a required penalty in a hard list. Our system relies on both laws and equity, and for good reason. Almost two millennia ago Aristotle argued for both approaches in order to show that they both fail in certain ways.
So we have a thread declaring all lawyers to be evil, and then the obligatory call to simplify the law, and the parent to your post, who, to be fair, was only reacting to the previous comment. But the generalizations are flying fast here and no one's going to get anywhere trying to fix things that law students learn are philosophically separate in their first week.
The system that you describe...trial by a jury of your peers, clear rules, people expected to keep their word. It sounds nice, but are you sure that we don't have it already?
We have science classes too, it's just that we breed our idiots here to be louder.
* repositories, not distros, time for bed
Uninstall Flash and remove references to the distros. If they can figure out how to get it working, then they get YouTube and and A.
I guess you'd have to prevent them from speaking to each other as well...
Yes, but the politicians look good because they did something about the problem. How can you be so insensitive to their needs?
This always felt kind of hacky to me, but it's what I use in those situations:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/hiddenfiles.html
TBH if I have to screw around with dot-files in a GUI I like it to be Windows because I know it absolutely won't hide them. But then there's the problem of it not using Unix permissions...sigh.
and a red F to me for knowing what year it is
It's 2008 now and Xerox makes multifunction printers. A for effort, though.
I'm going to assume that the guys who modded this informative have a hard drive full of files like -rw-r--r--@_1_myname_users_1903_May_9_18:00_addressbook.csv...
If the filetype was stored in a fork (as opposed to the way ID3 tags are done) then I don't see why there would be a huge speed difference. The name has to be looked up too, after all.
As for searching by .JPG, image/jpeg would be a suitably specific replacement. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that what you listed aren't criteria that are specific to file extensions.
Microsoft loves strange binary formats. I mean, they collectively as a company have romantic feelings about wacky binary formats. You are asking the impossible. They will use XML to contain info about a versioning scheme that's independent of whatever they used previously, then a tag called "shortcut" that will contain the binary-format link file.
To be fair, the situation with Mac plist files (like reg keys but not stored in a single massive hive of fail) isn't much better. From what I remember they tried to go completely XML but had speed issues so now you have both.
DOSShell was my first thing resembling a GUI (not counting a couple of different 3rd-party attempts) that I'd used, and I believe it had the tree on the left. But I was happy to use Windows once it arrived on the scene.
I tried to get into the Commander style for a while, but I can't get used to it. It's great for a series of complicated file transfers, but other than that, I don't find myself needing it.
I wouldn't say that the tree-on-left or even a complete multiple pane setup is better or worse. But I will say that at this point I think the people who prefer those setups are in more of a niche and there is still plenty of good third-party software for that.
OS X, for all the crappiness of Finder, does excel in one area here: the tree view is a real tree view that includes files. And you can expand one folder's contents without the last one hiding again. So it's sort of a multi-pane setup, except you can move the panes around because they're windows :)
For GUI elements I can see that being an eventuality but with icons you can always just use a picture larger than what's intended.
In fact, including pictures for various size targets is easier on the artist than trying to do "hinting"* for a vector. A lot of icons are drawn as vectors to begin with, and one fine day it'll maybe go straight from artist to desktop, but using bitmaps as intermediaries is not the worst thing in the world.
I know that, at least with Gnome, SVG icons are usable today. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any that I'd actually want to use. I tried lots of SVG wallpaper with KDE at one point, and anything remotely complex takes forever to load up, at which point it probably gets cached as a bitmap anyway. Anything icon-related usually looks great on OS X and the solution has always been to just throw huge bitmaps at it. It works.
In summary, bitmap =/= fail but like you I can't wait for a day when everything (that can be) is vector.
* Scaling up and retaining the look is easy...down, not so much.
Generally speaking, no. But it is possible to just store the extra information in another file, along with a naming standard so that the recipient's OS invisibly merges the two on receipt.
Macs already do this...AFAIK when I send another Mac user a zipped folder, they are getting not only the files but at least some usable metadata.
You could also use a filesystem image, provided that the recipient is capable of mounting the image. When the file is moved from the image to the host filesystem, if the two are not compatible then the mounting software/driver could make the conversion. I think.
sitting as icons...You can use a different icon for a different filetype, and use previews where possible. OS X as well as Windows hide associated extensions, I usually only unhide if there's a problem, and even then I can just drop to a CLI.
attachment to an email...the email has the MIME types, so a decent client will be fine there (and be less susceptible to the type of trojan in TFA)
Links to download a few more on the website I was just at...This one you've got me on. I don't think there's a solution to this that isn't needlessly complicated.
"Open Recent" menu item...Add a column for filetype. What if .eps means Epic Poetry Stanza instead of Encapsulated Postscript? There's a lot that three letters won't tell you.
By embedding the type into the name, its ALWAYS there...In a limited and ambiguous (collision-prone) way.
I get what you're saying but I think that file extensions are definitely a stone-age approach to metadata and it's not that crazy to imagine history going differently and people using more precision in this matter.
But having that information in links without any extra work on the website author's part is definitely a nice thing. Not that it couldn't be accounted for with a cultural change, but there might be more negatives than positives for that scenario.
Either you trust the metadata, or you trust the file extension (which led to TFA). If you don't trust it, then you read the file in such a way that you're sure nothing will execute as a result. A hex editor, if you're so inclined.
The trust issue has nothing to do with whether a file extension or something like a fork is used.
You could probably do this on a Mac, too. There is no security against a user that's insistent on running a trojan and has the privileges needed to do so. I know at least a few people who've installed fake anti-virus programs, and even one who paid for one. You'd think it'd be common sense to verify that an instruction is coming from a trustworthy source before following it, but some people will always be easy marks and there's not much you can do for them short of a hard slap to the face.
As far as telling a document from an app: Windows and OS X both prompt you before launching a recently-downloaded executable. Linux users should be using repositories.
I guess I just think that "design flaw" is a little harsh. The holes in a toaster are large enough to jam your hand into, but I wouldn't call that a design flaw, just lack of monkeyproofing.
I don't understand why people still hold this hope
Then you don't know what hope is.
Why is rationalizing the status quo insightful? Do Slashdotters all believe in predestination?
Maybe, maybe not. I'm an American too, and you'd better believe I know all the lyrics to my country's anthem. Better not to speak for others in matters of ignorance.
If he's willing to pay for the help then they should provide it. But to me "customer service" means whatever comes with the product in terms of a warranty or built-in support.
I'm sure that in this situation you could find someone who's an authorized dealer who could source the part. But you'll be paying them for their time...which makes you their customer. On the other hand, you wouldn't be a Dell customer unless you bought something from them.
Why should they provide customer service to someone who they don't have on record as a customer?
I bet they were dividing their time between Duke Nukem Forever and Monster Bash Forever...
i've got balls of steel
Six months isn't too much of a delay for a bunch of people who were essentially learning the manufacturing side of it as they went along. Their real problem was having too tight of a promised schedule. Luckily for them, the Wiz doesn't seem to be coming along any faster.
I never thought at any point in the process that there was any vapor. There were some worries on the forums, but it's mostly youngsters there...in fact, the collective impatience (and the slowing trickle of GP2X releases) has kept me from going back until it ships and people have constructive things to say. I'll be glad when mine shows up on my doorstep, my guess is late summer.
And I'll be even more glad as beefier ARM solutions like Cortex gain even more traction in devices that size and work their way up to netbooks.
I'm sure we'll think of something.
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/17/1459202