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by readingnews 433 days ago
No, OP is correct. I was teaching CS at a uni two years ago... files, directories, filesystem hierarchy, but yes, even just a file, this is a strange concept to them.

It is not a insurmountable hurdle, but it is interesting in the sense that things like git, programming, etc, all deal with files and filesystem hierarchies, and the students have never seen this, so it makes it one more thing to add to the (ever growing) list of things they need to know before we jump in.
2 comments
ziddoap 433 days ago
That's just crazy to me. I'm not saying anyone is lying, just that I am in disbelief.

I taught some cybersec classes maybe 4-5 years ago and while students definitely struggled with some (what I would consider) "basic" stuff like CLI, variables, loops, etc... no one had an issue with directions like "copy this file to here", "extract the files to there", "set up this directory and point this tool to it", stuff like that.

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ryandrake 433 days ago
People have had trouble with hierarchical file systems since day one. I distinctly remember being the 20 something Gen-Xer tasked with teaching boomers computers, and a large percentage just never understood why you'd want to put a folder inside a folder inside a folder. They would never do that in their filing cabinet, after all! Or why you would want to put a folder anywhere else besides the desktop since they would lose it. These people have had desktops that look like this[1] since the 90s.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/auu67x/p...

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