Talk:Show hidden files and folders

Copied from Consolidate show hidden files and directories information Alice 17:05, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I edited the link above to point to the archive Tanstaafl 08:48, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

<snip> If its in the right ballpark I'll create the article and we can discuss any changes it needs in its talk page. Tanstaafl

I suppose it's "in the right ballpark" as far as Windows and Linux but I don't know about the Mac section. As far as why viewing hidden files might be useful to Mozilla users, the article intro says that "You may need to make them visible in order to browse your [[profile folder | profile] or include certain files as an attachment." The profile folder isn't hidden on Mac OS as far as I know, so you should insert (Windows or Linux) after profile. I would also add "other hidden locations" after "profile". Uninstalling Firefox#On Windows links to Finding the profile folder on Windows because you need to remove files and folders in the hidden "Local Settings" (2000/XP) or "AppData\Local" (Vista) folders, which are outside of the profile folder path. Besides wanting to unhide a hidden file (a system file? One you hid yourself?) to send as an attachment, do you have another example why a Mac user might need to unhide a file? I don't know which Mac OS files or folders, if any, are hidden by default since I only have limited Mac experience. Alice 22:08, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Also, the "File Picker" section is confusing to me, since it seems to be mainly about Linux, so should be under the Linux section. That section doesn't seem to apply to Mac OS and, on Windows, the file picker follows the View -> hidden files and folders" selection so doesn't need a separate section. Alice 22:08, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't know OSX either (never owned a Mac), and the Windows and Linux sections seem all right to me too. -- Tony 22:31, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Actually, the file picker section is under the Linux section. I'll remove the section header since its causing confusion and you don't think its needed. I'll tweak the opening paragraph. I know needing to unhide a file is a common problem with OSX but agree it doesn't appear the default profile location is hidden. However, I don't think we should omit a operating system just because the default profile location is not hidden. User needs can be hard to predict, just the other day a windows user had a problem with their signature due to a file being hidden. I found a recent thread where one OSX user had to deal with hidden files for Thunderbird and another for Firefox and Camino due to FileVault (a system that protects files on a Macintosh computer). I assume if I knew more about OSX I might find some other OSX threads dealing with hidden files. Tanstaafl 04:20, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the information. I knew nothing about FileVault or that it can hide the profile folder if it is enabled. I would work that into the Mac section of the article somehow. According to this apple.com article FileVault is included in Mac OS X 10.3 or later and my limited Mac experience is with 10.2. Alice 16:40, 25 February 2008 (UTC) P.S. Since you have created the article I'm copying the comments (starting from your "If its in the right ballpark" comment) to Talk:Show hidden files and folders . Alice 17:05, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I added a paragraph about problems with FileVault. Tanstaafl 18:12, 25 February 2008 (UTC)