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Hidden from whom? Regular users? Very few regular people are using Linux or any variant of Unix other than OS X on a desktop. Those of us who install Linux a

by loudmax 11y ago

Hidden from whom? Regular users? Very few regular people are using Linux or any variant of Unix other than OS X on a desktop. Those of us who install Linux are the kinds of people who are most likely to mess with deep system settings anyway. Even my kids go into their .minecraft directory to install mods.

reptation 11y ago
dot files do not show up in ls command unless you add -a flag.
- DrScump 11y ago
  ... or you explicitly type the leading dot in the filename or wildcard criteria.
zanny 11y ago
In defense of your kids, Minecraft hides the mod folder on every OS behind a hidden directory. Its actually easier to get to (albeit violating file system standards) to have it in ~/.minecraft vs on Windows you needing to figure out where your AppData folder even is (it varies on release) and then unhide it or browse directly to it.
- Nadya 11y ago
  >on Windows you needing to figure out where your AppData folder even is (it varies on release) I believe "%appdata%" is symlinked to the AppData folder on every version of Windows Minecraft runs on.
  - zanny 11y ago
    Which is the point - you are now starting to try to make kids understand what symbolic links are or even how to input those in Windows Explorer. Just saying "open file manager, hit f8, go to .minecraft" is actually a usability improvement for kids.
    - Nadya 11y ago
      Every minecraft guide explicitly says to open file manager and navigate to "%appdata%" often with pictures of where to even input "%appdata%". I knew what symlinks were but never knew Windows had them. I only learned about %appdata% from a youtube video made by a 11-13 year old kid about how to install a mod for Minecraft. They don't need to know what a symlink is or where their .appdata folder is to know how to navigate to "%appdata%". The young ones are a bit more tech savvy than adults are giving them credit for. Are they pandered a bit without having to know as much about the internals and how things work? Sure. But they're able to navigate and follow instructions because they've literally been doing it their entire lives. Many laptops don't have a dedicated function row ("F\d" not FN) keys. So "F8" might serve to confuse some people who have had the privilege of only ever owning a laptop (I know a few of these teens myself!)
      - mjevans 11y ago
        It's not just laptops. Many new keyboards ship with a laptop-like function-lock key that re-enables the functions you're actually seeking when you hit what you think are the Fn keys.
        Nadya 11y ago
        Or if you're like most people I've met... you have no idea what FN, Alt-Gr, or the menu key even are. My point was more about not knowing what those are rather than the keyboards that lack them or have alternative inputs.
csydas 11y ago
I dunno, I think it's hard to claim in full what types of people are using Unix/Linux since that's not exactly quantitative data. I mean, anecdotally, for every one person I know who does know their way around the various nix systems and understands enough to safely mess with the deep system settings, I know several folk who have a linux install because they do coding and someone told them that Linux is the best OS to code in, and it's almost always Ubuntu. (Not a knock against Ubuntu, but with the people I have in mind, Ubuntu is picked because of brand familiarity, not because of conscious choice). Of course that's entirely anecdotal but the point is that there are a lot of reasons people are drawn to Linux, and it's not just because of the ability and knowledge to do more. I'm happy your kids are modding minecraft, just like I thought it was cool when my cousin did the same. But, in my cousin's case at least, it wasn't because he's the type to really mess with things, but because he wanted mods and was told how to do it. I still think it's good of him, but it doesn't really mean he has any more interest in really understanding computers than he did before the mods.
collyw 11y ago
I am a full time Linux user for over ten years. I prefer it because I know where to look when things go wrong, but I am past the stage of too much tweaking. I can probably fix stuff if there is good reason to, but most of the time I can't be bothered these days. Quite happy with a system that works more or less out of the box (don't say that I should get a Mac or Windows as those have at least as many problems as Linux).

by loudmax 11y ago

reptation 11y ago

dot files do not show up in ls command unless you add -a flag.

DrScump 11y ago
... or you explicitly type the leading dot in the filename or wildcard criteria.

zanny 11y ago

In defense of your kids, Minecraft hides the mod folder on every OS behind a hidden directory. Its actually easier to get to (albeit violating file system standards) to have it in ~/.minecraft vs on Windows you needing to figure out where your AppData folder even is (it varies on release) and then unhide it or browse directly to it.

Nadya 11y ago
>on Windows you needing to figure out where your AppData folder even is (it varies on release) I believe "%appdata%" is symlinked to the AppData folder on every version of Windows Minecraft runs on.
- zanny 11y ago
  Which is the point - you are now starting to try to make kids understand what symbolic links are or even how to input those in Windows Explorer. Just saying "open file manager, hit f8, go to .minecraft" is actually a usability improvement for kids.
  - Nadya 11y ago
    Every minecraft guide explicitly says to open file manager and navigate to "%appdata%" often with pictures of where to even input "%appdata%". I knew what symlinks were but never knew Windows had them. I only learned about %appdata% from a youtube video made by a 11-13 year old kid about how to install a mod for Minecraft. They don't need to know what a symlink is or where their .appdata folder is to know how to navigate to "%appdata%". The young ones are a bit more tech savvy than adults are giving them credit for. Are they pandered a bit without having to know as much about the internals and how things work? Sure. But they're able to navigate and follow instructions because they've literally been doing it their entire lives. Many laptops don't have a dedicated function row ("F\d" not FN) keys. So "F8" might serve to confuse some people who have had the privilege of only ever owning a laptop (I know a few of these teens myself!)
    - mjevans 11y ago
      It's not just laptops. Many new keyboards ship with a laptop-like function-lock key that re-enables the functions you're actually seeking when you hit what you think are the Fn keys.
      - Nadya 11y ago
        Or if you're like most people I've met... you have no idea what FN, Alt-Gr, or the menu key even are. My point was more about not knowing what those are rather than the keyboards that lack them or have alternative inputs.

csydas 11y ago

I dunno, I think it's hard to claim in full what types of people are using Unix/Linux since that's not exactly quantitative data. I mean, anecdotally, for every one person I know who does know their way around the various nix systems and understands enough to safely mess with the deep system settings, I know several folk who have a linux install because they do coding and someone told them that Linux is the best OS to code in, and it's almost always Ubuntu. (Not a knock against Ubuntu, but with the people I have in mind, Ubuntu is picked because of brand familiarity, not because of conscious choice). Of course that's entirely anecdotal but the point is that there are a lot of reasons people are drawn to Linux, and it's not just because of the ability and knowledge to do more. I'm happy your kids are modding minecraft, just like I thought it was cool when my cousin did the same. But, in my cousin's case at least, it wasn't because he's the type to really mess with things, but because he wanted mods and was told how to do it. I still think it's good of him, but it doesn't really mean he has any more interest in really understanding computers than he did before the mods.

collyw 11y ago

I am a full time Linux user for over ten years. I prefer it because I know where to look when things go wrong, but I am past the stage of too much tweaking. I can probably fix stuff if there is good reason to, but most of the time I can't be bothered these days. Quite happy with a system that works more or less out of the box (don't say that I should get a Mac or Windows as those have at least as many problems as Linux).