What's so special about directories whose names begin with a dot?
I was wondering what the difference between these two were:
~/somedirectory/file.txt
and
~/.somedirectory/file.txt
It's really difficult to ask this on Google since I didn't know how to explain the . when I didn't even know what to call it. But can someone describe the difference between including the dot and excluding it?
files directory-structure dot-files
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
migrated from programmers.stackexchange.com Sep 30 '11 at 15:15
This question came from our site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle.
add a comment |
I was wondering what the difference between these two were:
~/somedirectory/file.txt
and
~/.somedirectory/file.txt
It's really difficult to ask this on Google since I didn't know how to explain the . when I didn't even know what to call it. But can someone describe the difference between including the dot and excluding it?
files directory-structure dot-files
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
migrated from programmers.stackexchange.com Sep 30 '11 at 15:15
This question came from our site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle.
add a comment |
I was wondering what the difference between these two were:
~/somedirectory/file.txt
and
~/.somedirectory/file.txt
It's really difficult to ask this on Google since I didn't know how to explain the . when I didn't even know what to call it. But can someone describe the difference between including the dot and excluding it?
files directory-structure dot-files
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
I was wondering what the difference between these two were:
~/somedirectory/file.txt
and
~/.somedirectory/file.txt
It's really difficult to ask this on Google since I didn't know how to explain the . when I didn't even know what to call it. But can someone describe the difference between including the dot and excluding it?
files directory-structure dot-files
files directory-structure dot-files
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
edited Oct 2 '11 at 0:55
Gilles
530k12810621589
530k12810621589
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
asked Sep 30 '11 at 14:55
Dark TemplarDark Templar
275127
275127
migrated from programmers.stackexchange.com Sep 30 '11 at 15:15
This question came from our site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle.
migrated from programmers.stackexchange.com Sep 30 '11 at 15:15
This question came from our site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle.
add a comment |
add a comment |
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
Under unix-like systems, all directories contain two entries, . and .., which stand for the directory itself and its parent respectively. These entries are not interesting most of the time, so ls hides them, and shell wildcards like * don't include them. More generally, ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings. Other than being excluded from listings, there's nothing special about these files.
Unix stores per-user configuration files in the user's home directory. If all configuration files appeared in file listings, the home directory would be cluttered with files that users don't care about every day. So configuration files always begin with a .: typically, the configuration file for the application Foo is called something like .foo or .foorc. For this reason, user configuration files are often known as dot files.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
1
"More generally,lsand wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a.; this is a simple way to exclude.and..and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide.... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?
– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only.and..but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with.is definitely so that they don't clutter the output oflsin the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.
– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
add a comment |
Directorys starting with a dot . are considered to be hidden. That means:
~/somedirectoryand~/.somedirectoryare different directories. That is if~/somedirectoryexisted and you didmkdir ~/.somedirectory, you won't fail with aFile Existsmessage.The
lscommand will not show those directories starting with the.The
ls -awill show both directories
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
add a comment |
For details on the Unix file system check the standard. Specifically, dot files are used for configuration files in a users directory, and if a program has more than one, it should put them into a dot directory.
This hides the files from the user, unless they want to find them. That way they don't get in the way, and tools don't go messing with them accidentally.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
add a comment |
The leading "." in a directory or file name causes that directory or file to be hidden when doing a ls command.
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
add a comment |
Like @DaveNay already said, that period will cause the file or directory to be hidden.
For your second implicit question, this is how you search for that in google:
Just type in the search box: linux period before name
add a comment |
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5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Under unix-like systems, all directories contain two entries, . and .., which stand for the directory itself and its parent respectively. These entries are not interesting most of the time, so ls hides them, and shell wildcards like * don't include them. More generally, ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings. Other than being excluded from listings, there's nothing special about these files.
Unix stores per-user configuration files in the user's home directory. If all configuration files appeared in file listings, the home directory would be cluttered with files that users don't care about every day. So configuration files always begin with a .: typically, the configuration file for the application Foo is called something like .foo or .foorc. For this reason, user configuration files are often known as dot files.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
1
"More generally,lsand wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a.; this is a simple way to exclude.and..and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide.... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?
– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only.and..but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with.is definitely so that they don't clutter the output oflsin the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.
– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
add a comment |
Under unix-like systems, all directories contain two entries, . and .., which stand for the directory itself and its parent respectively. These entries are not interesting most of the time, so ls hides them, and shell wildcards like * don't include them. More generally, ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings. Other than being excluded from listings, there's nothing special about these files.
Unix stores per-user configuration files in the user's home directory. If all configuration files appeared in file listings, the home directory would be cluttered with files that users don't care about every day. So configuration files always begin with a .: typically, the configuration file for the application Foo is called something like .foo or .foorc. For this reason, user configuration files are often known as dot files.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
1
"More generally,lsand wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a.; this is a simple way to exclude.and..and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide.... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?
– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only.and..but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with.is definitely so that they don't clutter the output oflsin the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.
– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
add a comment |
Under unix-like systems, all directories contain two entries, . and .., which stand for the directory itself and its parent respectively. These entries are not interesting most of the time, so ls hides them, and shell wildcards like * don't include them. More generally, ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings. Other than being excluded from listings, there's nothing special about these files.
Unix stores per-user configuration files in the user's home directory. If all configuration files appeared in file listings, the home directory would be cluttered with files that users don't care about every day. So configuration files always begin with a .: typically, the configuration file for the application Foo is called something like .foo or .foorc. For this reason, user configuration files are often known as dot files.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
Under unix-like systems, all directories contain two entries, . and .., which stand for the directory itself and its parent respectively. These entries are not interesting most of the time, so ls hides them, and shell wildcards like * don't include them. More generally, ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings. Other than being excluded from listings, there's nothing special about these files.
Unix stores per-user configuration files in the user's home directory. If all configuration files appeared in file listings, the home directory would be cluttered with files that users don't care about every day. So configuration files always begin with a .: typically, the configuration file for the application Foo is called something like .foo or .foorc. For this reason, user configuration files are often known as dot files.
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36
Community♦
1
1
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
answered Oct 2 '11 at 0:54
GillesGilles
530k12810621589
530k12810621589
1
"More generally,lsand wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a.; this is a simple way to exclude.and..and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide.... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?
– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only.and..but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with.is definitely so that they don't clutter the output oflsin the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.
– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
add a comment |
1
"More generally,lsand wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a.; this is a simple way to exclude.and..and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide.... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?
– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only.and..but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with.is definitely so that they don't clutter the output oflsin the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.
– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
1
1
"More generally,
ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide . ... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
"More generally,
ls and wildcards hide all files whose name begins with a .; this is a simple way to exclude . and .. and allow users to hide other files from listings." This sounds like the following: The concept of hiding files/directories that start with a dot has actually appeared to hide . ... But later, people realized that being able to hide some files/directories has a value in it and hence, they began to put a dot at the beginning of the files which they want to be hidden. Is that really the case or just a speculation?– Utku
Oct 5 '15 at 14:17
3
3
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only
. and .. but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with . is definitely so that they don't clutter the output of ls in the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
@Utku Actually, it was the other way round, as least at first: the original developer intended to hide only
. and .. but made a mistake. It's however possible that he was dissuaded from fixing it because some users found it useful, and the reason why user configuration files start with . is definitely so that they don't clutter the output of ls in the home directory. I think we have a question about this here but I can't find it, it may have been mistagged.– Gilles
Oct 5 '15 at 18:49
add a comment |
Directorys starting with a dot . are considered to be hidden. That means:
~/somedirectoryand~/.somedirectoryare different directories. That is if~/somedirectoryexisted and you didmkdir ~/.somedirectory, you won't fail with aFile Existsmessage.The
lscommand will not show those directories starting with the.The
ls -awill show both directories
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
add a comment |
Directorys starting with a dot . are considered to be hidden. That means:
~/somedirectoryand~/.somedirectoryare different directories. That is if~/somedirectoryexisted and you didmkdir ~/.somedirectory, you won't fail with aFile Existsmessage.The
lscommand will not show those directories starting with the.The
ls -awill show both directories
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
add a comment |
Directorys starting with a dot . are considered to be hidden. That means:
~/somedirectoryand~/.somedirectoryare different directories. That is if~/somedirectoryexisted and you didmkdir ~/.somedirectory, you won't fail with aFile Existsmessage.The
lscommand will not show those directories starting with the.The
ls -awill show both directories
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
Directorys starting with a dot . are considered to be hidden. That means:
~/somedirectoryand~/.somedirectoryare different directories. That is if~/somedirectoryexisted and you didmkdir ~/.somedirectory, you won't fail with aFile Existsmessage.The
lscommand will not show those directories starting with the.The
ls -awill show both directories
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
edited 2 hours ago
Minix
2,19651940
2,19651940
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
TomTom
25113
25113
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
add a comment |
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
5
5
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
ls -A displays files and directories that start with . but doesn't include the . and .. entries.
– Julian
Sep 30 '11 at 15:47
add a comment |
For details on the Unix file system check the standard. Specifically, dot files are used for configuration files in a users directory, and if a program has more than one, it should put them into a dot directory.
This hides the files from the user, unless they want to find them. That way they don't get in the way, and tools don't go messing with them accidentally.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
add a comment |
For details on the Unix file system check the standard. Specifically, dot files are used for configuration files in a users directory, and if a program has more than one, it should put them into a dot directory.
This hides the files from the user, unless they want to find them. That way they don't get in the way, and tools don't go messing with them accidentally.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
add a comment |
For details on the Unix file system check the standard. Specifically, dot files are used for configuration files in a users directory, and if a program has more than one, it should put them into a dot directory.
This hides the files from the user, unless they want to find them. That way they don't get in the way, and tools don't go messing with them accidentally.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
For details on the Unix file system check the standard. Specifically, dot files are used for configuration files in a users directory, and if a program has more than one, it should put them into a dot directory.
This hides the files from the user, unless they want to find them. That way they don't get in the way, and tools don't go messing with them accidentally.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:11
Spencer RathbunSpencer Rathbun
20616
20616
add a comment |
add a comment |
The leading "." in a directory or file name causes that directory or file to be hidden when doing a ls command.
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
add a comment |
The leading "." in a directory or file name causes that directory or file to be hidden when doing a ls command.
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
add a comment |
The leading "." in a directory or file name causes that directory or file to be hidden when doing a ls command.
The leading "." in a directory or file name causes that directory or file to be hidden when doing a ls command.
answered Sep 30 '11 at 14:59
DaveNay
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
add a comment |
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
1
1
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
You can view all files starting with "." with ls -a.
– Sardathrion
Sep 30 '11 at 15:06
add a comment |
Like @DaveNay already said, that period will cause the file or directory to be hidden.
For your second implicit question, this is how you search for that in google:
Just type in the search box: linux period before name
add a comment |
Like @DaveNay already said, that period will cause the file or directory to be hidden.
For your second implicit question, this is how you search for that in google:
Just type in the search box: linux period before name
add a comment |
Like @DaveNay already said, that period will cause the file or directory to be hidden.
For your second implicit question, this is how you search for that in google:
Just type in the search box: linux period before name
Like @DaveNay already said, that period will cause the file or directory to be hidden.
For your second implicit question, this is how you search for that in google:
Just type in the search box: linux period before name
answered Sep 30 '11 at 15:07
AJC
add a comment |
add a comment |
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