The Origins of DS_store (2006) (arno.org)

Article summary

The article discusses the origins of the .DS_Store file, which is created by Mac OS X to store metadata about the folder's view settings and icon locations. The file's name comes from 'Desktop Services Store', a component of the Mac OS X Finder. The author, a former technical lead for the Mac OS X Finder, explains that the Finder's backend was designed to be useful outside of the Finder and was planned to be made available as a public API. However, the API has still not been fully released.

Main themes

• Mac OS X Finder
• DS_Store files
• Desktop Services
• File system metadata
• Alternate data streams
• Resource forks

What commenters say

• The concept of resource forks in Mac file systems caused compatibility issues with Unix-based systems, which led to the creation of alternate data streams in NTFS.
• NTFS alternate data streams are used to store security descriptors, extended attributes, and other file metadata, but are rarely used due to their invisibility and lack of GUI support.
• Some commenters disagree on the origins and usage of extended attributes in NTFS, with some arguing that they were introduced to support OS/2 subsystems, while others claim they were added later.
• The use of resource forks in classic Mac OS allowed for customization and editing of application resources, but had performance issues and limitations, and some commenters nostalgic for this feature.
• Alternate data streams in NTFS can be used to store metadata, but are not a reliable solution due to their potential loss when copying files to FAT filesystems.
• Some applications, such as Dropbox, use alternate data streams to store extended attributes and metadata on Windows, while others use xattrs on Unix-based systems.