from Hacker News

On OS X, why does sudo ls show hidden (dot) files?

by Zirro on 6/24/15, 9:33 PM with 36 comments

  • by darkr on 6/24/15, 10:25 PM

    The problem with such thoroughly robust StackOverflow answers as this; when I stumble across one as I occasionally do, so taken aback am I by it's succinct completeness that it becomes irreversably embedded into my limited brain space.

    I am afraid that one day I will come across an answer so comprehensive I will forget how to ride a bicycle.

  • by frou_dh on 6/24/15, 10:18 PM

    Per Rob Pike, the very existence of "hidden" named dotfiles was a bug that snowballed: https://plus.google.com/+RobPikeTheHuman/posts/R58WgWwN9jp

  • by azernik on 6/24/15, 11:13 PM

    Code archaeology needs to become an actual academic discipline.

  • by trippy_biscuits on 6/25/15, 1:19 AM

    Why can no one read a man page anymore? They even have them on the internet these days.

    https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin...

    -A List all entries except for . and ... Always set for the super-user.

  • by segmondy on 6/24/15, 10:27 PM

    For security reasons. Nothing should be hidden from root.

  • by kazinator on 6/24/15, 11:11 PM

  • by bksta on 6/24/15, 10:07 PM

    root ls always shows dotfiles on BSD

  • by hobarrera on 6/24/15, 11:55 PM

    AFAIK, this is standard on any Unix platform, not just OS X. I also fail to see why this is news, this behaviour is decades old.