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

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imported>Verityproductions
imported>Verityproductions
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==What's a hidden <.dot> file?==
=What's a hidden <.dot> file?=
 


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.
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.
I will refer to these hidden files as ''<.dot>'' files in this article.
==Why is it worth knowing about these <.dot> files?==




=Why is it worth knowing about these <.dot> files?=


* It is well worthwhile knowing which <.dot> directories & files in your ~/ directory are valuable in saving you time & effort if you have to reinstall Manjaro due to a hardware failure, corrupt data, user error...
* It is well worthwhile knowing which <.dot> directories & files in your ~/ directory are valuable in saving you time & effort if you have to reinstall Manjaro due to a hardware failure, corrupt data, user error...
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* This knowledge can also be used to backup important config files, some of which can have had many, many hours of work in them.
* This knowledge can also be used to backup important config files, some of which can have had many, many hours of work in them.


==So, what do these <.dot> files in my /home do?==
 
=So, what do these <.dot> files in my /home do?=




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Some examples of these are; panels, trays, clocks, text editors, image viewers, pdf viewers & whatever else that has been installed & configured on our system. A quick look in your ''~/.config'' directory will make this clear.
Some examples of these are; panels, trays, clocks, text editors, image viewers, pdf viewers & whatever else that has been installed & configured on our system. A quick look in your ''~/.config'' directory will make this clear.


==Here is a guide to get you going:==
 
=Here is a guide to get you going=


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


===Directories:===
 
==Directories==




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'''.xbmc''' - if you are one who uses this software you will be wanting this important directory.
'''.xbmc''' - if you are one who uses this software you will be wanting this important directory.


===Files:===
 
==Files==




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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.
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:===  
 
==When changing distros==  




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  be overwritten.
  be overwritten.


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




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'''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.''
'''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.''


==Feedback:==
=Feedback=


If you find any problems, room for improvement or whatever, please post in this thread in the Manjaro forum: [http://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=2673.msg21752#msg21752]
If you find any problems, room for improvement or whatever, please post in this thread in the Manjaro forum: [http://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=2673.msg21752#msg21752]