Windows shows my Desktop folder in four distinct locations in the native file manager. Some representations of my home folder have more files and folders in them than others.

I use Bash via Git4Windows as much as possible, but even there... `cd ~/git; cd ../Downloads; cd ../git` doesn't work because `..` from `~/Downloads/` is `~/One Drive/`.

It's... non-Euclidiean.

It is the age old conflict, what is better a verb focused or noun focused world.

Is the core the database(the filesystem) and the apps roam around in it, or is the core the apps each with their own database.

I grew up with noun focused operating systems, which is probably why I prefer them. Here are your things and you can use various actions on them(some valid some not). And as such find the verb focused ones unpleasant to use. Here are your actions each includes it's things. But where are my things? It does not matter, each action knows where it's correct things are. But I want my things, I know they are in there somewhere. (fights the phone for a while)

No, that was just Apple and others realizing that (1) the file system needed some type of wrapper for security purposes, and (2) the move to the cloud didn't work very well with local file systems (they still don't... most of my data in the cloud isn't a "file").

Actually, macOS isn't Unix. It's in the name of its kernel: XNU: X is Not Unix. Don't let the fact that it's a certified Unix confuse you.

It's nothing to do with evil old Apple and everything to do with phones being hard to type on, and search becoming better.

First came proprietary file formats, and they were evil. Now, un-find-able files in proprietary formats.