Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 14:14:07 05/23/02
Go up one level in this thread
On May 23, 2002 at 16:03:11, Christophe Theron wrote: >On May 23, 2002 at 11:15:14, Robert Hyatt wrote: > >>On May 23, 2002 at 01:31:56, Jeremiah Penery wrote: >> >>>On May 23, 2002 at 01:16:44, Robert Hyatt wrote: >>> >>>>On May 22, 2002 at 22:08:45, Christophe Theron wrote: >>>> >>>>>Filenames are case sensitive in Windows only for storing. When searching for >>>>>filenames, the search is case insensitive. That's the best way to do it in my >>>>>opinion. >>>> >>>> >>>>Not in mine. I want WCCCxxxx to mean something significant, since WCCC is >>>>obviously an abbreviation for something. wcccxxxx should (to me) be a >>>>different file. Otherwise, _why_ would I name one WCCCxxxx and the other >>>>wcccxxxx and expect them to be the same? Why not just type them the same >>>>and it works. IE if you don't like case-sensitive filenames, simply make >>>>all your filenames lowercase and the problem is instantly solved, but >>>>leaving the rest of us the option of using case sensitivity to do whatever >>>>we want... >>> >>>He's not talking about saving a file with different case. If a filesystem can >>>do that, great. But when you're _searching_ for a file, you should be able to >>>search for "wccc..." and see a list with _both_ sets of files. That is what >>>Christophe is saying, and it makes way more sense to do it this way. >> >> >>This is already trivial to do using regular expressions. Or anybody could >>write their own "find" command that is case insensitive. I did this inside >>Crafty to match GM/IM names to adjust how crafty behaves. And I found it >>tedious to try to match strange combinations of upper and lower case letters, >>so I simply mapped them all to lowercase _first_... >> >>But in Unix, if you are looking for files or strings in files, it is trivial >>to make it case insensitive already. Just study "regular expressions"... > > > >And here we get a good understanding of one of the problems that will keep Linux >away from mainstream (and that's a pity). > >The file matching convention is user unfriendly (convince yourself by making a >poll here for example), and the proposed solution for this problem is even more >unfriendly (regular expressions, how am I going to explain that to my mother - >she just wants to do word processing and email). > >That's all the Linux philosophy in a snapshot. It's just an example, but you can >repeat the same pattern for many features of the OS. That is not a "problem". The problem is with the human. Do you have control over your fingers or not? IE when you create filenames, do you have problems with your little finger randomly tapping the <shift> key so that your filenames have a mixture of upper and lower case letters? If you do have such a problem, why don't you get it fixed rather than demand that the computer ignore case totally? If you don't have such a problem, then why in the world would you use uppercase letters in a filename when it requires extra keystrokes and slows down typing speed? It's _gotta_ be that your little finger is out of control, as I can't see any reason to create a filename by tapping the <shift> key and then when you go to access the file, tapping the <shift> key again is a monumental imposition on you this time around when it wasn't when you created the filename... > >Normal people care more about useability than about features. Do you like word processors that assume everything? IE I indent a single word, it assumes I want everything indented? I start a sentence with a lowercase letter and it assumes it should be capitalized? I type an email address and it assumes it should be printed in color? I care about _control_. I want the machine to do exactly what I say. No more, no less. I don't want to have to waste time undoing something it assumed I wanted done... > >But not Linux users/developpers. Linux users/developpers care more about >features than about useability. > Actually the two are connected very carefully. >The result is a clear success: the stuff is unuseable for normal people. And >Linuxers like it: normal people are a threat to the philosophy. They might >demand stupid things, like being able to retrieve a file called "WCCCxxx" by >just typing "wccc*". Geez! Or demanding a bit of mental control from the user by telling him "If you want to retrieve a file by typing wccc* then when you create it, create it as wcccxxx. How do you _ever_ get anything done in the C language? It is case sensitive. > >Time for new blood to kick in and reconsider some basic things... There is a >huge potential in Linux. Do you want C changed also? and ADA? And every other programming language? And all the shells with far better scripting capabilities than command.com? Etc? > > > > Christophe
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