I lost the dock

[machenryr]

It’s sounds like an old blues song. “well I got up this morning
And my dock done gone away”

Hm. I rebooted. I went to system preferences and checked but somehow “automatically hide and show” was checked. I never checked this. WTF?

nMP 7,1. 10.5.3

 

[Honza1]

10.5.3?
My best guess on these occasional "resets" in settings is that plist gets corrupted and system "fixes" it by using default settings. I have seen this before, but usually happens after upgrade. Are you sure you did not have overnight silent upgrade? I set computers of my family to automatically upgrade overnight.
Alternative could be co-worker or family member, playing joke on you ;-) Or gremlins.

 

[machenryr]

No gremlins or family playing a joke. I’m not sure about nightly upgrades. I do have a back up that happens after bedtime.

 

[fisherking]

you hit 'command-option-D' probably. or, as honza1 says, a random reset.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

As far as I know, Apple has not changed the default behavior of the Dock. If they had, there would have been a huge outcry, and rightly so. The Dock is a major feature of the UI - it has to be easy to find, not an Easter Egg for those who know where to look in System Preferences or to mouse down to the bottom edge of the display.

So, no conspiracy on Apple's part. However it happened, it was not intended behavior. Just un-check "Automatically hide and show the Dock" and get on with your life. If it happens repeatedly, it's worthy of investigation.

People find all sorts of justifications for the unexpected - ghosts, aliens, conspiracies, malicious interference... but when it comes down to it, the explanations are nearly always going to be malfunctions, user error/random keystrokes, or the acts of someone else in the household.