FreeLists / openbeos / [openbeos] OT Re: drive letter vs. mounten

[Charlie Clark <charlie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello TheUserBL!!!

this discussion is best on the GlassElevator but let us address some 
misconceptions.

On 2003-07-04 at 12:43:01 [+0200], you wrote:
> ANd what do you do under BeOS?
> 
> - insert floppy-disk
> - mount floppy-disk
> - click on the upcomming floppy symbol on the desktop
> - (if you see, that your file isn't on this floppy-disk) unmount 
> floppy-disk
> - change floppy-disk
> - mount floppy-disk
> - click on the upcomming floppy symbol on the desktop
> - (if you see, that your file isn't on this floppy-disk) unmount 
> floppy-disk
> - change floppy-disk
> - mount floppy-disk
> - click on the upcomming floppy symbol on the desktop
> - (if you see, that your file isn't on this floppy-disk) unmount 
> floppy-disk
> - change floppy-disk
> - .. etc
> 
> So, under BeOS you have a lot of more to do, then under Windows. At the 
> result, in this part MS-Windows is more user-friendly.

Nope. This is a hardware problem: the floppy-drives in PCs do not 
automatically inform the operating system that media has been inserted / 
changed. If this were the case it would be possible to use BeOS's node 
monitoring to auto-mount the floppy. This is maybe how it works on PowerPC 
/ BeBox anyway. Volume names are much more userfriendly that drive letters 
- they are much easier to remember: (OS, apps, data, cd-rom vs. c:, d: f:, 
e:). And because the BeOS uses volume names it doesn't need all the 
acrobatics associated with more modern media such as USB-drives, memory 
cards, cameras.
 
> But is it not possible, to create a OBOS, which is a hybrid of both? For 
> example a "mdir", which is better integrated in the system. Or a command 
> called "mls", which worked like "mdir" (that mls don't mount a floppy), 
> but the output then looks more like "ls" and not so DOSish.

The Terminal is running the bash-shell and running built-in commands like 
dir and ls. You need to change shells to change these and while some might 
prefer another shell (csh, tcsh, ksh, ...) they all do this in much the 
same way anyway. The dos shell, which is pretty much deprecated is now so 
well hidden in XP that most users will probably never find it, is 
castrated: using "\" instead of "/" because CP/M did.

Charlie