All proposals so far don't _prevent_ the users, even normal ones, from
messing around with the internals. Frankly any reliable application is
going to have to deal with unexpected data in the file anyway.
> (b) The normal user expects a `bunch of data' in a single file, not in a
> directory.
> (c) The content of the `directory' isn't of interest to the user but to some
> applications.
These points merely argue for something that behaves like a directory
but doesn't look like one in an `ls' listing.
The only compelling reason I can see is:
(1) Ordinary users wish to copy/move compound files as a single unit,
attach them to emails and put them on web sites.
Which argues for automatic conversion to/from flat form on demand.
It could be done in user space, and a kernel hook could make it
transparent for all programs.
-- Jamie
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