[Tutor] os.path.exists(path) returns false when the pathactually exists!

[Alan Gauld]

"Kyle Brooks" <anotequaltob at gmail.com> wrote

>> would rather have Microsoft make obfuscate things, to make it 
>> "easier" for
>> them, than to try to understand themselves.
>>
> Why are you making out people and Microsoft in such a negative way?

JS is reflecting a commonly held view of Microsoft and their 
"contribution"
to computing among the computing community who do not use Microsoft!
I agree it is a little harsh since Microsoft are following a publickly 
declared
policy to bring a PC to every home, but...

> Also, how is it "harder" for them when things like file extensions 
> are
> obfuscated?

Its harder in the sense that by dumbing down the user experience
they are making Windows less predictable to use. As was seen in
this thread when a filename turned out to be bogus because there
was really an extension attached.

MS have brought this particular "problem" on themselves by insisting
on using file extensions to associate files with applications, in fact 
this
is not necessary and Unix, for example, can associate files with apps
even with no extension. The technology to do that has been there for
at least 30 years but MS persist on using their own brain-dead scheme
and then trying to "fix" it for the user by hiding bits of the name.

Its a bad solution to a problem which should not exist in the first 
place.
The OS should not need to use extensions, and then the users could
name the files as intuitively as they liked. I have no problem with
non techie users not liking extensions, but Microsoft should have
done a better fix. But Microsoft do not have a good track record of
adopting good ideas from elsewhere. They are very much a "Not Invented
Here" type of company and that is bad for users and bad for the 
industry
because MS nearly always introiduce inferior alternatives to existing
technologies and use their marketing dominance to force them into
wide use. Leaving poor programmers like us to work with multiple
standards and the users having to deal with incompatible applications
and computers.

Microsoft like to portray themselves as a leading light of computer
development when in fact their contribution has been minimal and
frequently negative. The only positive contributions I can think
of offhand are the ergonomic keyboard (is it really an improvement?)
and the scroll-wheel control in mice (I think most accept it as a good
idea). But in software(*) and OS their added value is mostly marketing
hype!

I hope that explains some of the hostility often expressed by
programmers towards Micro$oft.

(*) Actually it could be argued that their early advocacy of Component 
Based
software (ie COM) being superior to OOP based software has proved
to be correct, but there are plenty who would disagree, or at least
contend that they are complementary and not competing technologies.

-- 
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld