Difference between revisions of "Important hidden .dot files in your home partition"

They are files & directories with a "'''.'''" dot in front of them. Placing a "'''.'''" dot in front of a file or directory tells the operating system that such files & directories are to be hidden from view in file managers, file requesters & such. File managers & other applications can usually be set to view these normally hidden files. These hidden files & directories usually contain config files of some sort.

I will refer to these hidden files as ''<.dot>'' files in this article.

Looking in your ~/ directory (in a fashion that allows you to see all of the hidden <.dot> directories & files) gives us the ability to identify (& backup) any folders that have config or other customised data for our system, including the DE or WM that we use, as well as our applications.

 

 

 

The following is a guide built from looking at my custom built Manjaro mongrel Openbox system. It has remnants of tried panels & the lal clock, xbmc & other stuff that I don't use. (Actually I deleted the .xbmc folder as it will never be used again.)

The following are hidden <.dot> directories & files that I would keep from my ~/ (this stands for my /home/<user.name> directory):

'''.config''' - you can drop this whole directory into your new distro as it keeps settings for any apps, DE/WM that you have been using in your previous distro. (Some apps stick their settings elsewhere so have a look in your ~/ for any of them that I miss here.)

'''.gimp-2.8''' - if you are a gimp user (version may differ).

 

'''.griffith''' - for those that use the griffith movie database.

 

'''.mozilla &/or .moonchild productions''' - instead of copying out the contents of the alphanumeric directory & replacing the contents of a different named alphanumeric directory in another system install or other machine. All done 'cause you want to save yourself all of the time it takes to set up your browser (Firefox or Pale Moon) to be just the way you like it. You can instead us the absolutely brilliant add-on called '''FEBE''', you'll find it here: [http://softwarebychuck.com/febe/febe.html]

 

It can even backup whatever parts of your Firefox/Pale Moon systems for you on a recurring basis. Check out FEBE, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. After you have installed you'll find it in the '''Tools''' menu. (If nothing else you can have it backup your Bookmarks once a week/month/whenever.)

'''.ssh''' -makes networking easier, more secure and better.

'''.wallpaper''' - if you use feh to create a slideshow of your desktop backgrounds.

'''.worker''' - this holds the all important & oft laboured over ~/.worker/config file, which is one you never want to do twice.

 

'''.bash_profile''' - is worth bringing along for reference at least. I modify this file so that my machine boots straight to my Openbox desktop without needing to login. I've also modified my user search path using this file & set my user default Terminal editor here.

 

'''.bashrc''' - if you modify your .bashrc you won't let this one escape your attention. My .bashrc is a monster (in size that is).

 

 

 

 

'''.mtpaint''' - holds the mtpaint user config.

 

'''.pypanelrc''' - for anyone using the pypanel, here's your config.

 

'''.stalonetrayrc''' - holds its config here.

'''.xinitrc''' - a very useful file for some of us, so it is worth keeping hold of as it is used to start a variety of things in conjunction with the startx command.  

It is certainly useful for reference, but is not necessarily a good candidate to overwrite an existing .xinitrc that has been installed by a different distro, or the same distro that is using a different DE/WM. So be careful with what you do with this one.

==When changing distros==  

:'''2.''' They have a mixture of hidden <.dot> files from both distros in their ~/ partition.

 

 

 

So if in doubt, don't overwrite these files in an installation of a different distro, or If you are using the same distro with a different DE/WM. Do a little research on anything you are unsure about. The Manjaro team have gone along way towards removing the above problems, (including the permission problem) as can be read here: '''[http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Partitioning_Overview_and_Existing_Partition_Tables#Where_Using_an_Existing_Linux_Partition_Table]'''

 

==Deleting ALL <.dot> directories/files from your ~/==

 

{{Warning|Use the following method '''very carefully''', as it will delete all hidden <.Dot> files inside of whichever directory it is used!}}

 

{{tip|To be sure that you are in your ~/ directory, from inside of the Terminal, hold down the <Shift Key> & then hit the <~ key>, found in the top left area of your keyboard.}}

 

 

With this in mind, my method (which is not distro specific) is to have all of the important hidden <.dot> files & directories backed up into a different directory in the /home partition (though off of the machine is the best policy). Then just prior to installing the new distro I delete all of the hidden <.dot> files using a very powerful bash command in the Terminal. The following command will remove all of the hidden <.dot> files & directories from inside of the current directory:

  sudo rm –rf .??*

 

 

The initial '''.''' indicates a hidden <.dot> file and the '''??''' match at least two characters to exclude the parent-directory which is '''..''' & to delete everything the '''<nowiki>*</nowiki>''' will match all alphanumeric characters that are used for naming directories & files.

 

 

{{note| If you choose to do the above after running the '''su''' command, be sure that you are still in your '''~/''' directory. As if you have landed in /root you must change directory into your /home/<user.name> directory, or else you will delete all of the /root hidden <.dot> files & not those from ~/ your user home.}}

 

 

 

Following is a link to this page's forum counterpart where you can post any related feedback: [https://www.spiralinear.space/thread-346.html]