hidden files and folder -- new to linux

iconicmoronic · 07-20-2008, 10:43 PM

how do i set linux to show hidden files and folders? problem is, i use p2p and my incoming directory is not to be found in its location.

amule says incoming directory is /home/.home/amule/incoming

but i opened home/home and i see no such directory?

wmorri · 07-21-2008, 06:16 AM

iconic, welcome to TSF!!

Unforuntitely we can't help you with your p2p problem as it states in the forum RULES. Take a look at these for more help with why.

Cheers!

iconicmoronic · 07-21-2008, 09:49 AM

thanks, i just gave up on it.

iconicmoronic · 07-21-2008, 09:49 AM

solved

lensman3 · 07-21-2008, 07:34 PM

There was a . <dot-period> infront of the second home "/home/.home/amule". The file names, by rule, are always hidden. Various GUI check boxes will print them. From a command line screen, the dot files can be listed using "ls -la", where "a" means "all". This rule goes back to the earlist versions of Unix. M$ and DOS, used the dot files; it was a good idea!

It is how you can hide, in plain sight, entire directories. Linux/Unix use the dot "trick" to setup configuration files. Also directories/folders can have the dot prefix and they are hidden.

When you do the "ls -la" you will notice that there are two files "." (single dot) and a ".." (double dot) file. The single dot used by the OS and file store to hold the filenames for the files that are in the current directory. Take a loot at the "stat" command and the "man 2 stat" system call. On my minux system, I can "od -c ." or "strings ." and see the filenames that point to the inodes on the disk that finally point to the actual files themselves.

The double dot directory points to parent directory, the same as Windows. So executing the command "cd .." will take go up one directory level.

And now you know too much!

**shuuhen** · 07-22-2008, 05:53 AM

Closed as per the forum rules about P2P

07-20-2008, 10:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
iconicmoronic Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 30 OS: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS	hidden files and folder -- new to linux how do i set linux to show hidden files and folders? problem is, i use p2p and my incoming directory is not to be found in its location. amule says incoming directory is /home/.home/amule/incoming but i opened home/home and i see no such directory?

07-21-2008, 06:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
wmorri Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: NORTHERN New York Posts: 400 OS: Windows XP SP2/Ubuntu 8.04	Re: hidden files and folder -- new to linux iconic, welcome to TSF!! Unforuntitely we can't help you with your p2p problem as it states in the forum RULES. Take a look at these for more help with why. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever! Learning is doing, not being able to follow steps put forth by others.

07-21-2008, 09:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
iconicmoronic Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 30 OS: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS	Re: hidden files and folder -- new to linux thanks, i just gave up on it.

07-21-2008, 09:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
iconicmoronic Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 30 OS: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS	Re: hidden files and folder -- new to linux solved

07-21-2008, 07:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
lensman3 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Littleton, Colorado USA Posts: 389 OS: xp 64 sp2 Fedora Core 8 (vmware xp core 8 x32) Minix	Re: hidden files and folder -- new to linux There was a . <dot-period> infront of the second home "/home/.home/amule". The file names, by rule, are always hidden. Various GUI check boxes will print them. From a command line screen, the dot files can be listed using "ls -la", where "a" means "all". This rule goes back to the earlist versions of Unix. M$ and DOS, used the dot files; it was a good idea! It is how you can hide, in plain sight, entire directories. Linux/Unix use the dot "trick" to setup configuration files. Also directories/folders can have the dot prefix and they are hidden. When you do the "ls -la" you will notice that there are two files "." (single dot) and a ".." (double dot) file. The single dot used by the OS and file store to hold the filenames for the files that are in the current directory. Take a loot at the "stat" command and the "man 2 stat" system call. On my minux system, I can "od -c ." or "strings ." and see the filenames that point to the inodes on the disk that finally point to the actual files themselves. The double dot directory points to parent directory, the same as Windows. So executing the command "cd .." will take go up one directory level. And now you know too much!

07-22-2008, 05:53 AM	#6 (permalink)
shuuhen Moderator Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 700 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.4, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux	Re: hidden files and folder -- new to linux Closed as per the forum rules about P2P __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.