[NTLUG:Discuss] original file creation date?

[Kenneth Loafman]

BBBB wrote:
> Eric Schnoebelen wrote:
>> ......
>>
>> Why is the "original creation date" interesting to you?
>>
>>   
> I like to keep the original dates on my photo files.
> If I archive them through windows, I know when they were shot without 
> opening them.
> If I archive them through Linux, I know when I finally got around to 
> emptying my card.

I use the default photo downloader from my Canon G4 on Linux.  The exif
info matches the creation time on the files as shown by the pictures own
metadata.  The file modification time matches the time that I did the
actual download from the camera, and the access time matches the time of
the last time I looked at it.

The browser does not sort by creation time, but if you want, you could
use 'touch' or some other file utility to set the file mod time to the
creation time and it would then sort based on the time the picture was
taken.  Perhaps the file browser has a creation time column that you
would need to turn on in an options menu somewhere.

So, bottom line is that the semantics of the file times match reality,
not our desired perception of it.

...Ken