Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 25th May 2012 14:55 UTC
James Hague: "But all the little bits of complexity, all those cases where indecision caused one option that probably wasn't even needed in the first place to be replaced by two options, all those bad choices that were never remedied for fear of someone somewhere having to change a line of code... They slowly accreted until it all got out of control, and we got comfortable with systems that were impossible to understand." Counterpoint by John Cook: "Some of the growth in complexity is understandable. It's a lot easier to maintain an orthogonal design when your software isn't being used. Software that gets used becomes less orthogonal and develops diagonal shortcuts." If there's ever been a system in dire need of a complete redesign, it's UNIX and its derivatives. A mess doesn't even begin to describe it (for those already frantically reaching for the comment button, note that this applies to other systems as well).
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Member since:2005-08-27
"Why? What's the benefit?
Simple. Amateur user sees HDD1:Folder/image1.jpg and HDD2:image2.jpg and immediately understands what's going on. User sees /Folder/image1.jpg and says "Da freak is this? Okay, I guess / is the hardrive i installed the OS or something, because this is were my usr directory is" Then he sees /mnt/hdd2/image2.jpg and says "Why is my second harddisk a subdirectory under my first harddisk? What's that mnt folder? Waahhh, I don't understand what's going on!" See, most people don't know the concept of "mounting", and good luck explaning it to them before their attention span ends. As you say, GUIs try (and partially) solve this problem by making it appear a if Unix/Linux has multiple roots, by Gnome still has a "filesystem" button that will expose the nastyness and confuse the user. IMO all GUIs should completely hide from users the fact Unix doesn't have multiple roots, by replacing "/" with HDD1: and /mnt/hdd2 with HDD2: and hiding the mnt folder, and have a switch somewhere in the settings that old timers can activate to get the real filesystem back (if you know how the Unix filesystem works, you should know the button).
Simple. Amateur user sees HDD1:Folder/image1.jpg and HDD2:image2.jpg and immediately understands what's going on. User sees /Folder/image1.jpg and says "Da freak is this? Okay, I guess / is the hardrive i installed the OS or something, because this is were my usr directory is" Then he sees /mnt/hdd2/image2.jpg and says "Why is my second harddisk a subdirectory under my first harddisk? What's that mnt folder? Waahhh, I don't understand what's going on!" See, most people don't know the concept of "mounting", and good luck explaning it to them before their attention span ends. As you say, GUIs try (and partially) solve this problem by making it appear a if Unix/Linux has multiple roots, by Gnome still has a "filesystem" button that will expose the nastyness and confuse the user. IMO all GUIs should completely hide from users the fact Unix doesn't have multiple roots, by replacing "/" with HDD1: and /mnt/hdd2 with HDD2: and hiding the mnt folder, and have a switch somewhere in the settings that old timers can activate to get the real filesystem back (if you know how the Unix filesystem works, you should know the button).
Now this suggestion is really bad. The main point, the single reason of using a tree (as in filesystem tree) is to have one root. You dont want a forest. You want one root, one mount point.
The algorithms/programming will be much more elegant and less bugs, if you have one root. If you have several roots, a forest of independent filesystems, then your program need to find out how many roots there are, and then run on each root. You have lost elegancy and require additional steps (how many roots are there) before you can run your program.
If you have a single root, with several mount points, the algorithm/programming will be unified and simplified. You just start to run on the root, and it will automatically traverse every node.
"
There are several storage devices in your computer, some removable, some not. Abstracting it into one hierarchy just for the sake of lazy programmers and some other made-up reasons is crazy in the mind of a novice user and, at best, questionable when the novice develops into an advanced user. This "one root" magic that somehow maps into the real world (encompassing virtual filesystems like /proc and whatever is below /mnt) is a consequence of the unix design, not some universal panacea or *TEH ONLY CORRECT WAY* as some religious unixers make it out to be.
Windows works the way you describe. You have C: D: E: ... Z:. Now, let me ask you, where do you find the database server? On which disk? Where are all source code? On which disk? Easy to answer, right? Very intuitive, right? One company might use E: another uses Z:. No standard, a new user needs to traverse and examine each drive. Very very very ugly.
Compare to Unix. /opt/database. Or /opt/sourcecode. One root. You always know where to start. In Windows, do you start at D:? Or L:?
Is it /opt/database or /var/database? /database? /var/database-vendor-name ? No standard, a new user needs to traverse and examine every possible place in the tree that the database can reside in. Very Very Very ugly.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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2007-07-27
Simple. Amateur user sees HDD1:Folder/image1.jpg and HDD2:image2.jpg and immediately understands what's going on. User sees /Folder/image1.jpg and says "Da freak is this? Okay, I guess / is the hardrive i installed the OS or something, because this is were my usr directory is" Then he sees /mnt/hdd2/image2.jpg and says "Why is my second harddisk a subdirectory under my first harddisk? What's that mnt folder? Waahhh, I don't understand what's going on!" See, most people don't know the concept of "mounting", and good luck explaning it to them before their attention span ends. As you say, GUIs try (and partially) solve this problem by making it appear a if Unix/Linux has multiple roots, by Gnome still has a "filesystem" button that will expose the nastyness and confuse the user. IMO all GUIs should completely hide from users the fact Unix doesn't have multiple roots, by replacing "/" with HDD1: and /mnt/hdd2 with HDD2: and hiding the mnt folder, and have a switch somewhere in the settings that old timers can activate to get the real filesystem back (if you know how the Unix filesystem works, you should know the button).
Now this suggestion is really bad. The main point, the single reason of using a tree (as in filesystem tree) is to have one root. You dont want a forest. You want one root, one mount point.
The algorithms/programming will be much more elegant and less bugs, if you have one root. If you have several roots, a forest of independent filesystems, then your program need to find out how many roots there are, and then run on each root. You have lost elegancy and require additional steps (how many roots are there) before you can run your program.
If you have a single root, with several mount points, the algorithm/programming will be unified and simplified. You just start to run on the root, and it will automatically traverse every node.
Windows works the way you describe. You have C: D: E: ... Z:. Now, let me ask you, where do you find the database server? On which disk? Where are all source code? On which disk? Easy to answer, right? Very intuitive, right? One company might use E: another uses Z:. No standard, a new user needs to traverse and examine each drive. Very very very ugly.
Compare to Unix. /opt/database. Or /opt/sourcecode. One root. You always know where to start. In Windows, do you start at D:? Or L:?
A programmer knowledgeable in algorithm theory, always prefer a single tree. The reason you propose your ugly suggestion, is because you are not a computer scientist, that is obvious. If you study some computer science, you will change mind set and understand how beatiful trees can be, and how they simplify the algorithms and programming very much. Recursion is extremely powerful, and makes elegant simple solutions.