From the course: LPI Linux Essentials (010-160) Cert Prep

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Hiding files and directories

Hiding files and directories - Linux Tutorial

From the course: LPI Linux Essentials (010-160) Cert Prep

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Hiding files and directories

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- If you're a Windows user, you may be familiar with the concept of a hidden bit. This is going to hide a file from view in the file managers, and by default, the Windows dir command and most other programs aren't going to see it. Now, Linux has something analogous to this, but it's not in the form of a dedicated file system feature. Instead, Linux uses a file naming convention to hide files from view. So, for example, if I'm using the ls command to list out files in a directory and I have a file named myfile.txt, that will show up. But, if I have .myfile.txt, that's not going to show up. Most file managers and dial out boxes that deal with files also will hide such dotfiles, as they're commonly referred to. But this practice is not universal. Many user programs will take advantage of this feature to keep their configuration files from cluttering up your display. They'll simply name them as dot whatever the…

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