From memory (GE site not routing from here), this RFC was inane and showed no comprehension of what BeOS is. I know GE isn't BeOS, but moving to a weird Linux-like file system layout is a terrible step backwards Cian On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 23:01:48 +0200 CEST, Jonas Sundström <jonas@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > "Axel Dörfler" <axeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > ... > > > You should definitely look at http://glasselevator.sf.net. ;) > > > > Okay, I've read it now, and I must disagree > > with it almost in its entirety :) > ... > > the RFC in this form is useless and will never > > be accepted. > > (for reference) > http://glasselevator.sourceforge.net/ > cgi-bin//display_rfc.cgi?show=0003 > > Yeah, that proposal shows a lack of understanding > of the BeOS design and why it's a good thing. > > Replacing the virtual root with a mounted root > is a step backwards. > > The desktop is the GUI equivalent of the CLI root > known as "/". Tracker simply hides the root folders > that are mainly there to allow Unix/Posix apps > to run without too much re-writing. > > The CLI shows your BeOS partition as /boot > just above "/", in the same way Tracker displays > your Boot volume directly on top of your desktop. > Same thing. > > Perhaps in the future we won't need (to think about) > partitions, but in the present, and as long as we want > to dual-boot we have to live with partitions, and the > BeOS way of presenting partitions, > (in both the CLI as well as in the GUI env), > is more noobfriendly than the conglomeration > technique used by, for example, Linux. > > (FWIW, the virtual root does not preclude the > mounting of additional partitions as subfolders > anywhere in the tree - as is common in the Unixes, > for when you need or want to give parts of the > fs tree separate quotas, access permissions, > I/O characteristics, etc.) > > Unix also has the problem that you would want to > hide as much as possible from the user (in order to > be userfriendly), while still showing everything to > applications, without the applications themselves > revealing the smoke and mirrors. A common API > like Gnome or KDE could do this, but with Unix > desktop GUI APIs being so fragemented > you're bound to get a mixed user experience. > > In BeOS, applications use the Open/Save -panels > of the BeOS API, in league with Tracker, > and indeed implemented in libtracker.so, so all > apps show the BeOS world the way Tracker does, > whereas ported Unix applications sometimes > trip up and display the root and places like /tmp, > which aren't meaningful to most users most of the time. > > Anyway. > > > > /Jonas Sundström. www.kirilla.com > >