[sf-lug] resolver problem

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com):

> Most of the better GUI file manager like Dolphin on KDE have a
> place to turn on the view of the dot files usually marked "Show
> Hidden files".

So they do.  And, if you want to waste your time macdinking your files,
and getting carpal tunnel just to do basic file operations in the least
efficient possible way, you can use those.

When people ask me to suggest a 'GUI file manager', my cheerful top
recommendation is running bash in an xterm.  ;->

> >Programs often update dotfile conffiles and directories on the user's
> >behalf, e.g., if you store a bookmark in Firefox, it will get written to
> >a bookmarks.html file inside directory tree ~/.firefox or ~/.mozilla or
> >somewhere like that.

> Not really.  Firefox uses another format to store its bookmarks.

Maybe _your_ Firefox version does.  I wouldn't doubt that they changed.
Let me guess:  Some XML lunacy?  (Ah, JSON lunacy.)

My version (of Iceweasel, the Debian unbranded fork) still writes
bookmarks to the very same bookmarks.html file invented by its Netscape
Navigator predecessor in dinosaur days.

Not everyone leaps on the insane Firefox upgrade treadmill, Bobbie.  

> It is very hard to figure the places Firefox hides its bookmarks
> but once you start using the .html export/backup the backup-bookmarks
> directory is created and soon has a lot of backups in it.

Personally, I'm glad I've not followed the upgrade treadmill to that.
Mozilla Corporation recent policies have in many cases been pretty
seriously unlikeable, in my opinion.

> I think the hidden dot directories/files are fine.

Well, they exist irrespective of whether people like them, so I'm
unclear on whether it's useful posting opinions.

> I fail to see why anyone would expose the naive user to more
> information than he needs right away.

FWIW, that is not the primary rationale for 'hidden' files/directories.
It is:

> Plus if someone can see a file with configuration information they can
> easily mess it up by simply loading a file with the wrong tool.

_That_ rationale.