GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 55447
Please use "folder" terminology instead of "directory"
Last modified: 2011-02-04 16:09:32 UTC
On the gnome-gui list, it was determined after debate that applications should rather use the "folder" terminology than "directory". There are several reasons, the most compelling is that "folder" is what Windows and MacOS use. And as one person said it: "'folder' is shorter, easier to spell, easier to type, easier to show as a visual icon, and a lot more meaningful as a metaphor in terms of its dictionary definition and etymology. (Unless, of course, you think using Latin terms is good.)" Also, "folder" is what applications like Nautilus and Evolution use. I think it would be nice for consistency reasons if gtk moved to use "folder" in its messages too.
Most of the pro and contra arguments of "folder" instead of "directory" are to be found in the gnome-gui-list@gnome.org thread at http://lists.gnome.org/archives/gnome-gui-list/2001-April/msg00024.html Some other quotes: "In the real world, folders are things that contain other files, whilst directories are something you look into like a telephone directory. My point is the user will already be familiar with the concept 'folder' from real world experience and it would be easier to maintain consistency with the 'Real world' than merely 'Unix'." (http://lists.gnome.org/archives/gnome-gui-list/2001-April/msg00052.html) "My feeling at this point is that by sheer weight of numbers the 'folder' supporters have won. So it's now a matter of spreading the word among developers." (http://lists.gnome.org/archives/gnome-gui-list/2001-April/msg00118.html)
You realize that popular vote makes no difference to us whatsoever. ;-) I would personally speculate that "folder" is nice, but posting vote counts isn't going to help prove anything. I'd be most interested in opinions from people with lots of user testing experience, or ideally actual user testing. The whole file selector has a bad UI and needs an overhaul, so this seems like part of that process.
I realize that, I was just citing good points. Possibly the UI guidelines will be a help in actual decisions. As for user testing, I don't know if Eazel did some on this.
Just one small point... a folder contains things while a directory lists the location of things. MacOS and Windows use the term folder because a file can only be in one folder at a time. Folders contain files. However, on Unix, a file can appear in multiple directories (hard links). Directories only list files, they don't contain them. The underlying technology is different, so the terminology is different.
But Gnome has been ported to systems without hard links... My opinion is that underlying technology and platform and what file system technology the platform supports should be abstracted by the desktop environment whenever possible. Else the desktop interface would have to be different on every platform.
The GNOME HIG team are most likely (according to all drafts posted so far) going to recommend the GNOME Documentation Project's Word List as the reference for user interface terminology. The Word List has this to say about folder/directory teminology (http://developer.gnome.org/documents/style-guide/gnome-glossary-generic-terms.html): directory: A special type of file that enables you to organize other files into a hierarchical structure. Only use the term directory when you make specific references to the structure of the file system. Example: The New Folder menu item creates a new folder on your desktop. This folder is located in the directory /.nautilus/desktop. folder: A representation of a directory in a graphical program. Use the term folder when you document programs that use folder icons to represent directories. Example: To create a folder choose File->New Folder.
Before more time is spent here, I actually was planning to make this change when I got a chance. (It's like two strings...)
Ok. The reason I brought up this again is the approaching gnome2 string freeze.
Fri Feb 1 12:12:12 2002 Owen Taylor <otaylor@redhat.com> * gtk/gtkfilesel.c (attempt_file_completion): s/directory/folder/ in all labels and messages.