Alan Browne
On 2014.04.08, 16:54 , sid wrote:

sid
nospam wrote:

nospam
finder is part of the operating system. it's always running. it's 'the desktop'. users don't 'run' finder.

sid
It's an app that's autostarted when you log in. It lives at /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app

notice the .app at the end.

Alan Browne
You're being pedantic. The Finder is part of the middle-are that is an integral part of OS X and its UI. No different than a folder view in Unity.

sid
That's not some sort of file manager you are running is it? And what do you think happens when you tap the spacebar? It runs some viewing software, so that's 2 things you've run.

nospam
first of all, there are dozens of processes running, without the user having to run them manually, including finder. tapping the space bar is just another keystroke interpreted by finder. it does not run a second app.

sid
So you are running the first app then?

nospam
as far as the user is concerned, they click on one or more files, tap the space bar and see the contents for nearly any file type. photos are shown as photos, movies play in a window, spreadsheets are shown as spreadsheets, etc.

sid
I'm not talking about "as far as the user is concerned". You said you don't have to run anything to have a preview display. I'm saying you do.

Alan Browne
It's a given that any function on a computer has to execute code to do something.

Finder is "middleware" that is part and parcel of OS X as a distribution. The user doesn't add it (as he would The Gimp or dcraw) it is there. Indeed it's not possible to casually remove it from the dock (it can be done but so indirectly as to be unknown by 99% of OS X users).

sid
All of this is pointless, I'm just trying to point out that your mac isn't some wonder machine that can do loads of things no one else can, it's just a computer and works like other computers. It's not magic.

Alan Browne
No - but it is delivered with photographic workflow in mind - including in Finder.