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My Documents

Every computer I go to seems to have the same sad story. A mess of files sit on the desktop. In ‘Pictures’, random pictures sit (the user downloaded them before making a half-hearted attempt to organize) with a few folders, some marked ‘holiday’ (which one?), and others given names by the computer. Renaming the lot would require an unknown amount of time, none of it rewarding.

But it’s not the users’ fault. It’s like moving into a house with a ‘room for small things’, containing books and a toothbrush rack on the wall, and a ‘room for wet things’, containing the toilet, shower, and kitchen sink. The place comes with an in-built ontology, a default way of thinking, and all of it’s wrong.

People cannot organize their own basic files, and the blame for this horrifying mess lies entirely with Windows 98. People were told to have a ‘My Documents’ folder, and a ‘My Music’ folder, so that’s what they used.

These documents were created by engineers, who think in terms of filetypes. The .pngs and the .jpgs and .gifs go here, while the .mp3s and .wavs go over there. .doc and .pdf documents then have their own place, with other ‘My Documents’.

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The best way to sort one’s files depends entirely on the user, and how they use that computer. These pre-built ideas made their way to Linux, and I’d accepted them just like everyone else, so at one point I deleted the lot, and decided to rebuild. It might seem like an insignificant house-keeping chore, but these machines form a good chunk of our mind, and the basic directory structure of these machines can make a big difference.

I have, at present, the following structure on my computer. It’s a bit of a mess, but at least it’s mine.

│    { "Archives" for picturese, and other things I don't want to lose.
├── dl
│    ⎧ Downloaded items, to be sorted.
│    ⎨ Currently this sits at 20GB, so I really should think
│    ⎩ of a better way to handle downloads, that doesn't involve house-keeping.
├── img
│    { "Images" has pretty pictures, and memes.
├── kn
│    { "Knowledge Base" holds documentaton and infographics.
├── LK -> kn/lk/
├── Mail
│    { "E-mail"
├── music
│    ⎧ This chonky folder contains every git I've taken an interest in over the
│    ⎨ last five years, all my own writing, and a boat-load of forgotten dreams
│    ⎩ which I will never fully realise.
├── Projects
│    ⎧ This chonky folder contains every git I've taken an interest in over the
│    ⎨ last five years, all my own writing, and a boat-load of forgotten dreams
│    ⎩ which I will never fully realise.
├── rec
│    ⎧ "Records" of things. Mostly bills, because without writing down the costs
│    ⎩ I pay, I would never remember.
├── vbox
│    { "Virtual Box" experiments.
├── Videos
│    { Videos I'm making, or have made, or snippets to use later. Almost entirely redundant as I make about two videos a year.
├── vids
│    { "Videos" I want to watch later.