Curious Sunday Morning Linux File System Question ??

[Aaron Konstam]

On Sun, 2007-03-11 at 12:01 -0400, William Case wrote:
> Hi Mikkel,
> 
> Thanks for your quick response.
> 
> On Sun, 2007-03-11 at 10:39 -0500, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
> > William Case wrote:
> > > Hi All;
> 
> [snip]
> 
> > This is the way Linux hides files and directories. You will notice
> > that they do not show up in a normal ls listing, or in the file
> > selection window of most programs. If you have your file manager set
> > up not to show hidden files/directories, they will not show up there
> > ether.
> 
> I understand the above comments.  The reason I included the bit about
> being a newru was that I was looking for a deeper explanation than the
> rudimentary.
> 
> For example, why would Linux/Unix choose to hide files when there is the
> simple option of placing them in a standard sub-directory?  That
> sub-directory could be 'dotted' if a strong need to hide things was
> felt.
> 
> I am not actually proposing this but:  for neatness's sake couldn't I
> create a sub-directory in /home, called 'userconfig' or '.userconfig',
> put all my dot files in there?  Of course, I would then have to change
> *all* my applications to look in 'userconfig' to find the config, *rc,
> etc. data.
> 
> I asked because, the use of dot files has an ancient historical feel to
> it,  but I wanted to check if there might be some overriding
> practical/technical reason as well, and I asked because it was a quiet
> Sunday Morning and I wasn't ready to get down to real work yet.  
> 
> -- 
> Regards Bill
> 
Your solution is much more problematic than it seems. The suppliers of
gnome and mozilla, and evolution, etc would all have to agree. Now they
are agreeing to a standard that has existed for decades. To all get them
to agree to a new standard is not a trivial chore.
--
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Each new user of a new system uncovers a new class of bugs. -- Kernighan
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Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam at sbcglobal.net