Re: file as a directory

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



Peter Foldiak wrote:

On Tue, 2005-05-10 at 15:53, Hans Reiser wrote:
I agree with the below in that sometimes you want to see a collection of
stuff as one file, and sometimes you want to see it as a tree, and that
file format browsers can be integrated into file system browsers to look
seamless to users.

A quibble: A name is just a means to select a file; he is completely
wrong to think that file browsers will eliminate filenames.

Yes, even if you think of the whole file system as a single "file", you
need a way to select the bit you need, and you will use names for that
(and whether you call that a filename, a file-part name or an object
name doesn't really matter).
The thing that interests me most is the difference (if any) between giving a stream of bytes an opaque name e.g. "Chapter 1 of my book.sxw" versus giving a stream of bytes a query expression that can also be considered an opaque name e.g.
"/book/chapter[1] "

This is what the Russell/Frege descriptive theory of proper names applied to storage systems in a sense[1].

I've written about this stuff before on ITWorld (warning: chatty prose style ahead):

   Fractals, Self Similarity, and the Whimsical Boundaries of XML Documents
   http://www.itworld.com/nl/xml_prac/04252002/

   A study in XML culture and evolution
   http://www.itworld.com/nl/ebiz_ent/03252003/

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proper_name

Sean


-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to [email protected]
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/

[Index of Archives]     [Kernel Newbies]     [Netfilter]     [Bugtraq]     [Photo]     [Stuff]     [Gimp]     [Yosemite News]     [MIPS Linux]     [ARM Linux]     [Linux Security]     [Linux RAID]     [Video 4 Linux]     [Linux for the blind]     [Linux Resources]
  Powered by Linux