Re: Long filenames in DOS/Windows and Unix/Linux (Was: Piping to stdin)

On 03.09.2024 20:39, John Ames wrote:

[...]
Also, who says that filenames should not, as a rule, contain spaces?

Technically, filenames may even contain ASCII control characters.
Is it wise to use them?

Semantically I'd interpret the term "file name" (and its original
intention) as something different from, erm.., a "file novel".
(I don't want to write "novels" to work with them [in non-GUIs].
I want to spot differences easily, not have to parse the name.)

A file [content] "description" is different from a file "name".
(Note: above term "novel" was just a rhetoric accentuation of
"description".)

The descriptions that some folks stuff into a "file name" should
IMO be part of a file's _meta-information_!
(BTW, like the file's "extension" IMO would also belong there,
like other formal or informal type information about the file.)

It's a historic heritage what we have (strange, OS/FS-dependent,
arbitrary, non-portable, error-prone, etc.). Tedious to discuss.

Define your own standards... - and then live (or die) with them!

Janis