Thanks, as always, to Philip Guo, for sharing great thoughts on his site! From November 2019, his piece “Computer Literacy Starts with Developing a Mental Model of Filesystems” covers the critical need for folks to have building blocks for computer literacy, noting:
computer literacy starts with developing a working mental model of computer filesystems. This includes concepts such as:
- files
- file extensions and types
- folders (a.k.a. directories)
- hierarchical tree structure of folders and files
- what pops up when you plug in a USB stick or hard drive
- home folder (e.g.,
~on macOS)- app folders (e.g.,
/Applicationson macOS)- apps can read, write, create, and delete files
- the difference between moving and copying a file/folder
- permissions (e.g., why can’t I create a file or folder here? why do I need to type in my password? why do I get a pop-up alert?)
This short piece is well worth reading in full, and well worth sharing with colleagues, family members, and community members, to open the discussion to help ensure folks do have a working mental model for how filesystems are structured. While many folks don’t spend less time using computers, even for casual usage levels, folks are better supported by a better understanding of filesystems.