Why is a folder not just a special file?
Discussion
It is. In Unix systems, directories are just special files that store lists of other files.
I very much prefer "everything is a file for most things.
What do you mean? Where ?
In general, real folders and real files, digital file systems. It‘s just about addressing I guess. That how we ended up with objects storage adressable with just keys coincidently readable as file paths. Why do I have many folders at home?
I get it, but my question was more aimed at understanding what OS or platform are you making your claim against. Windows have directories from Inception and Linux based systems have files anyway.