Strange setup in Mac Hd

[ricede]

I noticed today a strange setup in Mac Hd ( in devices ) on my MBPro.
My finder windows open by default to my Home folder & therefore i seldom go to Mac Hd.

There are the normal folders : Applications/Library/System & Users but there is also a folder called Private. I'm sure that previously this was always a Hidden Folder. In it are folders called 'etc' 'tftpboot' 'tmp' & 'var'.

When i enable Hidden files i notice that there are also folders in Mac Hd called 'etc' 'tmp' & 'var' , but that they are alias's. This does not seen right.

My question is : Does this matter ? And if so - can anyone please tell me what should i do about it. Thanks.

[benwiggy]

These are normal Unix folders. Both etc and var have aliases (symbolic links) from root to /private (or is it the other way round ) This is because Apple does things slightly differently, but wants compatibility with other unixen.

Normally, private should be hidden like all the other unixy folders. So it's not clear why this isn't hiding.

Have you rebooted?

I'm not sure offhand how Apple hides the hidden folders in the Finder -- it could be with the chflags hidden attribute. (The reverse of showing the user Library in Lion!)

[trevor]

Quote: Originally Posted by ricede When i enable Hidden files

Quote: Originally Posted by benwiggy Normally, private should be hidden like all the other unixy folders. So it's not clear why this isn't hiding.

It sounds to me like ricede is manually enabling hidden files, for example using TinkerTool or something similar, and that is why he or she is seeing the files that are normally hidden.

Trevor

[ricede]

Quote: Originally Posted by trevor It sounds to me like ricede is manually enabling hidden files, for example using TinkerTool or something similar, and that is why he or she is seeing the files that are normally hidden.Trevor

Sorry - probably didn't write clearly enough. The 'private ' folder is visible even when all others are hidden.

Quote: Originally Posted by benwiggy Have you rebooted? I'm not sure offhand how Apple hides the hidden folders in the Finder -- it could be with the chflags hidden attribute. (The reverse of showing the user Library in Lion!)

Rebooting made no difference. I tried 'chflags hidden' and got this message in terminal

Last login: Sat Apr 7 08:11:06 on console
Rics-MacBook-Pro:~ Ric$ chflags hidden /private
chflags: /private: Permission denied
Rics-MacBook-Pro:~ Ric$

[benwiggy]

You'll need to sudo chflags hidden /private

[ricede]

Thanks benwiggy - thats sorted it