Subject: [lojban] Re: open and save

From: sbelknap <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003 19:27:51 -0600

>===== Original Message From [email-masked] =====
>Robin:
>> On Tue, Jan 07, 2003 at 11:57:21AM -0600, Steven Belknap wrote:
>> > The use of the lojban word <dacru> for a computer file is not
>> > malglico. The analogy of computer file to a paper file is a
>> > language-independent extension of the concept of file to 
cyberspace
>>
>> That is *such* incredible crap. There are hundreds of languages 
that
>> don't even have the *concept* of a file folder
>
>I think Steven is right in a sense, for while the metaphor may be
>specific to glico (or western) culture, it is not language-specific
>or language-dependent.
>
>Lojbanists differ on their views about whether metaphors expressed
>in Lojban should be independent of glico culture; it's a matter
>of personal choice. Personally I like the defamiliarization effect
>of expressing glico metaphors in Lojban, but I agree that this is
>not appropriate for official lujvo.
>
>> And dacru isn't a file in that sense anyways, it's a drawer. A
>> *physical* drawer. A *sliding* *compartment*, for crying out loud
>>
>> > <vreji> is not an apt lojban word for file. A file *contains* records
>>
>> Umm, BS. Unless you're defining record as an ASCII character or
>> something, I assure you, the vast majority of my files do not, in fact,
>> contain records. They are records (i.e. permanent-ish storage) of 
data
>
>I agree in one sense, but from the user's point of view a file does
>feel like a container.

Also from a programmer's point of view. The markers EOI (end of 
information), EOF (end of record), and EOR (end of record) are often 
designated by ASCII characters, even in recent file structures.