Re: [ARSCLIST] Underscore in file names

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, the whole idea of separating words of file names with spaces goes back to the first MacOS. 
Having had the unfortunate experiences of working with DOS machines and mainframe terminals before 
1984, it was very thrilling to sit down in front of the first Macs. I believe you could finally use 
spaces in filenames by Windows version 3, but I might be wrong, just don't remember. If you could, 
there was still some way underneath that DOS truncated the "real" filename because it couldn't 
handle more than 8.3 characters, if I remember correctly. I believe this underlying truncation 
carried over to Win95 but was finally killed off in the NT core. It may well have carried over all 
the way thru Win98 and Millenium but since all current versions of Windows are based on the NT core, 
it's finally killed off. If I remember correctly, the Windows versions that sat on top of DOS had 
two file tables, the "real" one in the DOS innards with 8.3 truncated names and the one the user saw 
with the names he or she used.

Don is correct that Windows -- and MacOS before it -- are designed for those of use who are more 
interested in using computers as tools rather than caring exactly how they do their functioning. I 
don't miss mainframe terminals or DOS one second, ever.

So this brings up a question, since I switched out of MacOS years ago -- now that MacOS sits on top 
of FreeBSD, or something along those lines, do the filenames with spaces that I'm sure the vast 
majority of Mac users prefer get translated in the underlying file tables or can FreeBSD just handle 
the spaces?

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Cox" <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Underscore in file names


> On 05/09/06, David Breneman wrote:
> > --- steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > > Also, the underscore work-around comes directly from C/C++
> > > programming...which DOESN'T allow spaces in identifiers,
> >
> > *Nothing* allows spaces in file, variable or argument
> > names except Windoze.
>
> Windows is designed to be used by the average non-technical office
> worker, who would not understand why spaces shouldn't be used.
>
> All other OSes assume that the user has some interest in how computers
> work.
>
> Regards
> --
> Don Cox
> doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx