| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 43 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 94:15:58 |
| Calls: | 290 |
| Calls today: | 1 |
| Files: | 904 |
| Messages: | 76,378 |
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the end-user
POV (but see below). Yes, it makes things hard for us on the admin
side of the game. I have always thought that the right answer is
to have both - a short name that is usable for the admin side of
the game and a long label that the user can work with. There are
two solutions of this nature that I like:
a) The "Extend a name" idea. Where you have short names at the
filesystem level, but then have a database linked to that
that allows the user to think that long, descriptive
filenames are supported.
A long long time ago, there was a DOS product called
"Extend a name" that did this. Also, 4DOS (and later
versions) does this.
b) The way VFAT does it (and NTFS emulates) - where, for any
file with a long name, there is an 8.3 filename (usually
with weird characters in the filename) as well, and either
filename is usable by programs. This is one place where I
think Windows really gets it right (and Unix could learn
from it).
[...]
Also, who says that filenames should not, as a rule, contain spaces?
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:37:01 -0000 (UTC)
Muttley@dastardlyhq.com wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 05:57:12 -0000 (UTC)
gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) gabbled:
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the
end-user
No they're not.
WhoNeedsSpacesWhenYouCanJustCapitalizeEveryWordAsAVisualSignifierAmIRight >or-alternatively-make-liberal-use-of-dashes >or_use_underscores_like_some_deranged_freak
Very readable and not at *all* weird or clunky!
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:37:01 -0000 (UTC)
Muttley@dastardlyhq.com wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 05:57:12 -0000 (UTC)
gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) gabbled:
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the
end-user
No they're not.
WhoNeedsSpacesWhenYouCanJustCapitalizeEveryWordAsAVisualSignifierAmIRight >or-alternatively-make-liberal-use-of-dashes >or_use_underscores_like_some_deranged_freak
Very readable and not at *all* weird or clunky!
John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> writes:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:37:01 -0000 (UTC)
Muttley@dastardlyhq.com wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 05:57:12 -0000 (UTC)
gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) gabbled:
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the
end-user
No they're not.
WhoNeedsSpacesWhenYouCanJustCapitalizeEveryWordAsAVisualSignifierAmIRight >>or-alternatively-make-liberal-use-of-dashes >>or_use_underscores_like_some_deranged_freak
Very readable and not at *all* weird or clunky!
Perhaps Dennis had it right with a 14-character maximum filename :-)
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:37:01 -0000 (UTC)
Muttley@dastardlyhq.com wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 05:57:12 -0000 (UTC)
gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) gabbled:
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the
end-user
No they're not.
WhoNeedsSpacesWhenYouCanJustCapitalizeEveryWordAsAVisualSignifierAmIRight or-alternatively-make-liberal-use-of-dashes or_use_underscores_like_some_deranged_freak
On Tue, 3 Sep 2024 17:37:21 -0000 (UTC)
Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> wrote:
On 2024-09-03, John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:37:01 -0000 (UTC)
Muttley@dastardlyhq.com wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 2024 05:57:12 -0000 (UTC)
gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) gabbled:
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the
end-user
No they're not.
WhoNeedsSpacesWhenYouCanJustCapitalizeEveryWordAsAVisualSignifierAmIRight >> > or-alternatively-make-liberal-use-of-dashes
or_use_underscores_like_some_deranged_freak
This is a strawman argument; filenamews should not only not have
spaces, but should be reasonably short. (No, not 8.3 short; that's not
"reasonably" and therefore another strawman.)
If we use spaces in your examples, the readability improves, but if
you have a directory of just half a dozen such names, you've got a
paragraph to read.
I'm unclear on how that qualifies as a straw-man argument...?
On Tue, 3 Sep 2024 20:11:28 -0000 (UTC)
Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> wrote:
Because it is based on a strawman interpretation of the "no spaces"
rule. That strawman interpretation is that there are no other rules
used in combination with the "no spaces" rule, and thus that any
ridiculous name is fine, just as long as it doesn't contain spaces.
And so, look how unreadable is this 100 character name in CamelCase!
Q.E.D. no spaces is a bad recommendation!
Well, there were no other factors *presented* alongside the blanket
statement that spaces in filenames are unnecessary, so it would appear
on the face of it to be an accurate assessment of the claim being made,
which wasn't in a post of yours to begin with.
And I'd still like to know who died and made whom king where filenames
and spaces therein are concrned.
For people who work from the command line, spaces suck and are
completely unnecessary and even a PITA and moreover, a potential
security issue.
kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) wrote:
Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
But do they know that???
"They" probably don't know it. But let's face it,
nobody really wants to create a file having '-'
filename on purpose. The filename is not descriptive
at all, it would be just an insane choice for anything
useful.
I used to think the same thing about spaces in filenames. Then along came >Windows.
2) Spaces in filenames are pretty much a necessity from the end-user
b) The way VFAT does it (and NTFS emulates) - where, for any
file with a long name, there is an 8.3 filename (usually
with weird characters in the filename) as well, and either
filename is usable by programs. This is one place where I
think Windows really gets it right (and Unix could learn
from it).