Comment by em-bee | Hacker News Reader

Comment by em-bee | Hacker News Reader

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the performance issue sounds like an implementation/design problem rather than a feature issue. most linux filesystems have extended attributes, and i am sure feature wise, the fields could just be mapped onto those.

indices are a standard feature in databases, and yes, they can slow down some queries while speeding up others, so you should use them judiciously. maybe BFS has an issue there, but that does not negate the concept.

practically speaking, what i want is a gui filemanager that lets me set arbitrary keys and values on files, display them and filter for them. indexing them is not required.

btw: UK style power sockets all have individual switches to turn them off or on. maybe elsewhere people aren't bothered because they are not used to the idea.

I live in the UK, so I'm aware our power sockets have switches. However, if I walk into a darkened room I certainly don't want to crawl around in the dark looking for a switch - so better that (as I believe a friend's home has in some of their guest bedrooms when I had reason to visit) there's an ordinary light switch, near the entrance door at a good height - to activate the distant socket.

Since you live in the UK you may also be aware that, unlike ordinary appliances, smaller low power (5 amp) connectors are authorised for lighting, so in that particular house because of its age the floor lamps literally can't plug into a conventional socket, the plugs are the wrong size, this has the further advantage that you can't accidentally plug an appliance such as a vacuum cleaner or television into a socket controlled from a light switch.

Since the topic arose, FWIW, here in the U.S. it's common to have one power socket in a room (e.g. living room, bedroom) controlled by wall switch, and multiple other power outlets lacking such a switch.

I'm not in the industry, but I think the idea is that, in the absence of built-in lighting, one should be able to add lamps to a room that can be turned on/off by a handy power switch next to the room's entrance.

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