Anonymous 11c8d2dcb573cd3261e0343c9e54d48e started this discussion 3 months (2008-09-05 14:56:42 UTC) ago:
I have always said "dir" or "directory" since MS-DOS and old versions of Windows. When did they start using "folder", and why? Doesn't a folder imply that it can only hold a little data compared to a "directory"? A physical "directory" is one of those things that you pull out from a cabinet standing around in an office, no?
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Anonymous 14c28afd2cdad359fd69e9ca9b015267 replied with this 3 months (2008-09-05 15:00:23 UTC) ago, 4 minutes later (#57,694):
Directory is indeed the older term for file folder. Why did they start calling it "folder"? I assume that happened because developers named most virtual tools after physical ones - much like your backbround + icons is called your "desktop".
Anonymous c1916f76cf87a1244fc4271643c0d0f5 replied with this 3 months (2008-09-05 15:57:20 UTC) ago, 57 minutes later (#57,701):
Unix/DOS used "dir", Mac always used folder. Windows copied the Mac / popularised "folder". Dunno what the Xerox Alto called them.
Anonymous cca3b38ef9352dd0d2dce88be364093a replied with this 3 months (2008-09-05 21:22:51 UTC) ago, 5 hours later (#57,762):
Microsoft switched to primarily using "folder" with Windows 95, although older Windows versions already used a folder icon for directories.
All branches of Linux/Unix say "directory", though GUIs still tend to use an icon of a folder.
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