Friday, August 07, 2009

SOFTWARE: Suction, Simple and It Just Works

Software that does one thing, and that one thing really well, is a dying breed. I've seen all kinds of one-trick ponies that do that trick really, really well. But the programmer can't stand the onslaught of feature requests and sooner or later, that one-note piece of software is a thundering herd of mish-mashed together ideas that ceases to be nearly as good as the software was originally. (Careful now, I think I mixed three different metaphors in that paragraph).

At any rate, cheers to those that want to do something really well. Say DrNathan, who offers us Suction. Suction collapses a series of sub-folders into its parent, moving all of the files into that parent folder. Simple. Works. Works better for me after the author responded to a query of mine with incredible speed and completeness. And that's all it does.

Why is that important to me? Well, when I archive files onto a DVD, I like to print a file-listing to include in the disk jacket. A heck of a lot easier when all the files are in the root. But accomplishing that is mousing-heavy, since I took great care to put them in separate folders in the first place. Suction does it in two clicks. And I don't run into PowerDesk/ExplorerPlus's nasty habit of running afoul of file-locking, forcing me to unlock the files through Unlocker. It's all quite civilized.

I'll bet most of you don't need Suction. But if you do, then Suction is worth its weight in gold. 'Cept it's free. A useful free utility.

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