In KDE, when right-click menu gives you an option for a new "folder". I will call it a folder.
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2026
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The Xfce file manager, Thunar (4.18 with en-US as language), also has "Create Folder..." under the File menu, and in some contexts in the right-click menu.
Under Preferences, Behavior, it has both "directory" and "folders".
man ls uses "directory" only tho, and of course mkdir.
Thunar also calls them folders in the properties window.
And most Linux icon themes visually represent them with a file cabinet folder image...
linux users when they walk into a room:
ls
windows users when they walk into a room
DIR
cd
ls
ls
What was I doing again?
ls
lsd
You start tripping out
I guess most Windows users don't know what DIR is or even where to use it.
"Do you use DIR?"
User: "Do I use what? And don't call me dear."
Opening a folder in Explorer automatically shows the contents, saving the need for an extra step.
Here is a container of DIR.
Which is called a pen! Hmmm.
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I feel this deep. Coming around full circle over the past 30-odd years.
Cutting my teeth mucking around and learning DOS 5 with friends on my families first PC, they were directories. Migrating to a support career where everything is stored in folders and now coming out the other side abandoning windows altogether and I'm back to calling everything directories again!
Yep and don't get me started on object storage where everything is a prefix
Most file managers on Linux, like GNOME or KDE, have the option "New Folder". It's fine to use them interchangeably, y'all.
imo, directory refers to the filesystem concept, folder refers to the UI concept
Yeah, but if the UI refers to the same file system's directories also as folders, why do people get so bent out of shape when you call them either?
Everyone's gotta have a hobby.
I honestly like folders better. It's one of the few good things from windows.
Files are in folders. That makes so much sense.
Not any more. I had a student not that long ago ask about the metaphor, ended up having to explain to the whole class what physical files and folders were.
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When you call it the windows key
I bought tux stickers to stick them onto the windows icon of my keyboard. However it is a lighted one. So you had tux on top and in a red light the windows icon shined through. It was even more cursed that way.
What? You expect me to use "Super" out there in the wild and not look crazy?
Microsoft is the one that forced manufacturers to add it, or they couldn't advertise their keyboard as being "Designed for Windows 95", as it is required for the shortcuts (e.g win + d shows the desktop). The "Menu" key was added at the same time so that the Win 95 UI could be navigated without a mouse.
Now they are going the same with the CoPilot key. And poorly - Windows keys send keycode 0x5B and 0x5C. Menu sends 0x5D.
The CoPilot key? Left Shift + Windows + F23, obviously.
There's another name for the windows key?
Super or Meta is and Mac calls it command key
meta is the alt key (option on Macs)
I fairly sure I've seen various *nix tools call it super, meta, and hyper. I think super is the most correct but I've seen all three
Super and Meta refer to two different keys from olden times that no longer appear on mainstream keyboards. So they are emulated using a convenient proxy.
Itβs most common on Gnome to use the Windows key for Super, while Meta is set by user preference, often to Left Alt.
Super and Meta have different functions and are not interchangeable, though two given users may map the windows key to one or other.
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I use either term. "Directory" is a weird term honestly. I accept it and use it often, but folder finds does make more sense honestly.
Yes, a directory is a list of items. Like a telephone directory. A folder is a container of items.
In 2009 I added Folder to the Wikipedia page Directory (computing) Explaining the Folder Metaphor in both English and German (Verzeichnis/Ordner). My clarification has been tweaked and altered slightly to bring it into line with Wikipedia standards, but it has stood the test of time.
I always use the term folder in Linux circles when referring to a container of things. It's useful to stress the importance of the user interface, which is often misunderstood by many there. Be proud!
Firstly, thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. And yeah those are the two ways I've thought of those terms. What's weird to me is that saying "directory" to refer to the containing object does sound like you're referring to just the listing itself, as you said, which is ever-changing metadata and to my knowledge that is not stored in/on the folder itself, it would be in the ...whatever equivalent of file allocation tables are now. But, since so many people say directory I've learned to use it interchangeably with folder. Directory feels more technical and somehow more closely attached to the concept of a path. I dunno, words are weird!
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Folder is better. On disk, a folder is a list of pairs of a name and number, mapping the items in the folder to their location on the disk i.e. it's a directory. The days before computerization are before my time, but, as I understand it, library index cards worked this way. You might have a card for each author which listed the books by that author with the location of the index card on that book, and you might have directory cards on subjects or keywords too, and the card on a book might point to the location of the book on the shelf and the card for the author, etc., or something like that. It would be most confusing to call these directory cards "folders". The computer does the same thing internally, but the user interface has hidden away any notion of directory. They're logically folders. It's only a directory if you're writing a file system implementation.
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Too late, you're gonna get corrected by 4 people
Jokes on them, Iβve been a windows guy so long they have always been directories; I started in the dos days.
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wait, windows uses folder?
i've been saying directory since DOS. CD means Change Directory.
Dont windows also have a rmdir
I dont know if there are any commands with folder ? Maybe it was a marketing stunt somewhere along the way
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Also dir to list director contents
Me, earlier today, referring to Niri as a desktop instead of a "window manager," which is also wrong as it's a Wayland compositor.
As an old person who started on MS-DOS, I've always said "directory", and "program". I had trouble switching to "folder" and then more recently "app". I'm happy to have switched to Linux a couple of years ago so I can just say directory again. The word app, short for application, came from Apple, with the iPhone. No doubt they also liked that is the first three letters of Apple, too. It was specifically for the little programs that ran on iPhone, not meant to replace "program" across the board. But, here we are. Also, "web app" was used to refer to those websites or pages that worked like apps on iPhones, before apps became commonplace. Now, everything from Notes to Photoshop is an "app".
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"Task Manager, my beloved"
"I'm System Monitor now" (Arch+KDE)
"Apologies. System Monitor, my beloved"
Also, the bottom bar with icons and stuff is called "Task Manager" on KDE, which is mildly confusing
I say 'drawer' π
I Used to be like this but now I disagree. I intentionally use βfoldersβ instead of Linux directories or gitlab groups.
Folders are distinct and meaningful, while directories and groups have multiple meanings not clear without context.
In spanish wy kind of use both interchangeably... carpeta, directorio.
If I'm dealing with text, it's a directory. If I'm clicking around, it's a folder.
At least both sides agree that the big piece of silicon wafer inside the PC is called the motherboard, and not some deranged bougie term like logic board... π€¦
The biggest silicon wafer is going to be your CPU or GPU. The motherboard is mostly fiberglass and copper.
Motherboard made more sense when there were daughterboards.
At this point without that the term is much more meaningless compared to alternatives like System board or Main logic board.
Uhm, ackshually, the motherboard is fiberglass, a.k.a. GRP, with copper traces imprinted on it.
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Such simpletons. I use the term File Name Category, since "folders" and "directories" are just a fancy way of referring to longer file names used to sort files. You would think someone using linux would understand this.
I use Arch BTW. π©
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