Metadata petition

[KKJ]

Don't you think that something is missing from Mac OS X? Labels, aliases that don't break, no filename extensions?

I truly recommend that everyone who cares about the thing that make the mac platform special to sign this petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/osxmd/petition.html

 

[peterbaker]

I signed the petition, with the full confidence that resource forks and file types/creators are what make the Mac so elegant, but after reading many arguments against this petition, I'm beginning to come around. Not to the file extension side, but to the BeOS side.

www.beosbible.com/exc_filetype.html

It uses the same type of system that browsers and email programs utilize: MIME types. A real interesting read, and it didn't take much to see that this could be a vastly superior system when put into Apple's now-faltering User Interface team.

 

[.dev.lqd]

A stronger push would be made for a more extensible file system architecture- which may already exist, to an extent, considering Darwin's grassroots BSD-ness. The issue, however is that OSX's metadata exists primarily in the filename, as an extension. I'd love to be able to use BeFS under OSX- but it primarily needs to be able to be supported by the operating system as a whole- something that is currently impossible, unless I'm mistaken.

CONGRTLN.W95 indeed.

Can anyone more learned comment on this? There was a really good article on Arstechnica- but it was way back in the day. Maybe there'll be a follow-up.

 

[simX]

Have you guys even LOOKED at the elegance of the system that Apple has implemented in OS X?

1) Filename extensions can be hidden, but when you type them in, it unhides the extension instead of adding a second one, and it warns you if you change the extension.

2) The program assosciated with opening a file is actually assosciated with the combination of the file name extension AND the type/creator code combination. To see this, select a file that you know has type/creator codes, Get Info on it, and go to the Open With Application tab and choose a different application. When you click the "Change All..." button, it mentions BOTH the file name extension and the creator code. This suggests that although the emphasis is off of the resource fork, it still plays a role.

3) Download a PDF file from the net. Make sure it has type/creator codes. Then strip the filename extension off the file by using the Name & Extension tab in the Get Info window. Then try opening the file. If you have assigned an application to open files that don't have extensions but have type/creator codes, Mac OS X will still open it with that application.

4) This implementation does WONDERS for cross-platform compatibility.

There are 2 problems where Apple's solution breaks down, but it can be fixed easily. First, Apple applications that were made exclusively for Mac OS X do not assign type/creator codes as well as a filename extension. This is definitely a mistake and should be corrected. Second, Sherlock should search the VISIBLE file name by default, and have an option to search for the REAL file name in a custom search.

But besides those 2 things, Apple's solution is actually very effective. I have had no problems with it, and I haven't actually noticed many of the filename extensions.

So, no, I will not be signing this petition and will instead be sending Apple feedback to get them to make their applications assign type/creator codes, and to get Sherlock to have a find by visible/real file name. You can also send them feedback if you want labels.

C'mon. Give Apple a break. They mean well, and the implementation is close to perfect. We don't need to abandon metadeta or cross-platform compatibility.

Oh, and by the way -- aliases only break if you assign them via the terminal. Aliases that are made from the Finder work EXACTLY like they do in Mac OS 9. Metadeta actually has nothing to do with that.