After serious thinking Dustin wrote :
> FromTheRafters  wrote in news:lrte22$r6t$1
> @news2.open-news-network.org:
>
>> Dustin was thinking very hard :
>>> "David W. Hodgins"  wrote in 
>>> news:op.xj4xbphsa3w0dxdave@hodgins.homeip.net:
>>> 
>>>> On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 11:18:40 -0400, Wolf K   wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On 2014-08-05 9:58 AM, FromTheRafters wrote:
>>>>>> I disagree with this usage when in this context. These entities exist
>>>>>> and are accessed before there is a file system extant to access true  
>>>>>> files.
>>>>> 
>>>>> "True" files????
>>>> 
>>>> Now we're getting into the semantics of what a file is. I do agree the
>>>> boot sector and bios contain data. I don't agree that they are files.
>>>> A file has a name, that is accessible from the os. Neither of the
>>>> above have names. While some programs can read/write them, a general
>>>> file browser cannot.
>>>> 
>>>> Regards, Dave Hodgins
>>> 
>>> I agree with you and FTR on this one.  
>> 
>> However, this is what a "file" is becoming most likely. This context is 
>> quite different from the context we should be using here.
>
> You can obviously see the potential for abuse this will provide?
>  
>> http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=154539
>
> Frightening....
>
> We suggest that one aspect of this adaptation is to encompass metadata 
> within a file abstraction; another has to do what such a shift would mean 
> for enduring user actions such as ‘copy’ and ‘delete’ applicable to
the 
> deriving file types. We finish by arguing that there is an especial need to 
> support the notion of ‘ownership’ that adequately serves both users and 
> engineers as they engage with the world of networked sociality.
>
> engineers? What a fancy term for er, Microsoft programmer. :)

I can see it now
Definition:

File - an internet standard devised by Microsoft to create an 
abstraction for anything a user might need an abstraction for.


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