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Why Is User Library A Hidden Folder?
- Thread starter rmbrown09
- Start date
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It's not like this in SL I'm pretty sure, but to see my user Library I have to goto terminal and:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE to see it....?? Why?
Or hold down the Option key while clicking Go from the finder menu. It is to protect users from messing up their system or poking around where they should not, I'm guessing.
Duff-Man says...yes, in 10.6.x (like earlier systems) the users Library folder is visible by default....oh yeah!
Yes, you can see it under Snow Leopard(not to say that there aren't any hidden files in Snow Leopard because there are).
As long as we have terminal to reveal them I'm not too worried about it.
I regularly need to fix things in the Library folder, as you can't completely uninstall applications by just dragging them to the trash. I also often need to reset preference files and stuff like that, when Mail gets stuck every once in a while sending an email and not allowing me to cancel it, delete it, and it will never send it.
I think it's very stupid that the Library folder is hidden. If someone is desperate to delete something in there, they will find out how to do it anyway.
I think it's very stupid that the Library folder is hidden. If someone is desperate to delete something in there, they will find out how to do it anyway.
Still, there is some logic to keeping casual users from accidently deleting critical files. With the beauty of unix, experienced users always have other tools to deal with files hidden by the OS--so it is in some respects a perfect solution.
Hiding things isn't the problem, it's locking them. With all the things they've done like adding the Mac App Store, hiding the Library folder and not showing the little icon representing an app is open; none of that is stopping us from doing anything like iOS does. Holding down the Opt key and clicking the go menu =/= jailbreaking.
It's hidden because the User folder is full of the users personal files while the library is full of Application junk. Unexperienced users may go in there and screw things up by accident. It's just not the kind of thing that an average user will need to use frequently.
most average users dont even know how to do anything beyond opening mail and safari....
from a troubleshooting aspect i dont like this, i modify peoples library files all day long, and having them enable hidden folders is just another painful step, especially if they are complete noobs with computers...
but for the select few people who 'think' they know everything and go in there and mess around i can see why they would do it...
from a troubleshooting aspect i dont like this, i modify peoples library files all day long, and having them enable hidden folders is just another painful step, especially if they are complete noobs with computers...
but for the select few people who 'think' they know everything and go in there and mess around i can see why they would do it...
How is having them hold the option key while they click the Go menu painful for them?
because doing 2 things at once is harder than doing 1 thing....
i'll bet that about 80% of the time when i tell someone to open a finder window to look at their files they ask me how to do that, and they have no knowledge of the active application and how the menu bar will change depending on that...
like i said earlier, most people can barely open up safari and mail
what i dont understand is why the user library, i find that people can do more damage with the root library than user library...
and typically people need to pull more plists from the user library than the root library to begin with
if it were up to me i would hide the root library and show the user library.
and typically people need to pull more plists from the user library than the root library to begin with
if it were up to me i would hide the root library and show the user library.
Semi-protection is the reason. The root library is already protected as you can't delete anything without authenticating. The next level of protection is hiding it. Making it easy to view again is Apple simple, just an option key. It keeps my dad away from trouble, but also makes it easy for me to help him if I need him to delete a .plist file. I just tell him to hold the option key and go to a menu. Simple.
Love it. Clamoring for the visibility of ~/Library (for some reason), yet has no clue how to make it appear.
As long as he gave $99 to Apple and files bug reports to help everyone we can smile.
I think the same concept is used so viruses can't **** up your Mac. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I've heard it...
If you don't know how to do something as simple as unhide a folder, then you clearly shouldn't be messing with developer previews.
It isn't that illogical to me. There's a lot of commonly used files in the library, namely all your mail stuff (messages, attachments) that any user may want to access, copy, etc.
