Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!pequod.cso.uiuc.edu!dorner From: dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: Why aren't 7.0 aliases real? Message-ID: <1991Apr8.215943.6159@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Date: 8 Apr 91 21:59:43 GMT References: <1991Apr8.013825.13118@netcom.COM> <1991Apr8.174933.10818@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Sender: usenet@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News) Organization: University of Illinois at U-C Lines: 25 >Am I missing something here? Prefs and Settings go in their respective folders >in the system folder, right? Why would you ever want to use an alias for one? Suppose you never back up the drive that your system folder is on, but you want to back up your settings files. Suppose you DON'T want to back up settings files, and want to name them something DiskFit won't back up by putting []'s around them. Suppose you want to have one copy of a settings file on a file server, and point all macs in a lab to it. None of those things is unreasonable, and all of them could be accomplished if the "*open*" traps resolved aliases for the programmer. But, all of these things will take new code in every app, which is too bad. If this was a technical decision, taken because the other direction would have caused too many problems, I can understand. If it was the result of a "We KNOW that faking this with Standard File is just as good as doing it in the file manager," then I beg to differ. End of the world? No. Pain in the tuckus? Yes. -- Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner