Ask HN: Do We Need Folders?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21024613

by grodes • 7 years ago

1 3 7 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Our digital filesystems are designed from the idea of how we used to store our data before computers: sheets within folders within drawers within buildings. Everything follows a child<>parent relationship

Has anybody experimented before with a different approach for organizing data in a computer?

onion2k• 7 years ago

I always thought SQL would make a nice filesystem interface. People have experimented with doing it - http://etia.co.uk/

als0• 7 years ago

I think there have been many unsuccessful attempts to simply treat data storage as entries in a relational database. The most well known one was WinFS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinFS

iamNumber4• 7 years ago

No, just call them directories, thinking of them as logical buckets to place things in them, which can be used to store data or direct you down further to find and location any information placed within the hierarchy structure.

Please note, if it is not broke don’t fix it. As well as new does not mean improved.

Also the file system found within computer operating systems were modeled after ways to categorize and store information that is both easy to use, and understand. Humans have been using systems like this for so long the inventors of that system are all but forgotten, as the concept can be seen through out history from how libraries have organized their collections of knowledge building, floor, isle, case, shelf, book, page, paragraph, sentence; all of which are conceptual examples of a directory. As well as other forms of systems in the same vain, country, state, city, district/neighborhood, street, block, house, room, file cabinet, drawer, folder, document.

Then as other suggestions in comments relational databases having database, table, row, column.

Each of those are also the concept of a directory.

Which can be defined as the ability to hold something, including more directories.

And a storage system can be described as a system of associated directories with a means of linking, nesting, indexing to provide means of navigation for location of things held within the system.

So, if there is a better way, humans have not yet grasped upon or discovered yet.

If you have ideas, go for it, but make sure your not reinventing the age old design with different nomenclature. You may also like looking into graph theory and object oriented design as areas of topics to learn about/discover.

Ask HN: Do We Need Folders?

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