OSR5.0.7: hidden files at the root directory
Pepe
After a fresh install of OSR 5.0.7, and once I had manually moved
the "root" user home directory out of "/" and into its own "/root",
i was left with these hidden files at the root directory:
/.odtpref/
/.unixsyms
/.utillist2
The first one is a hidden directory and I guess it has the "root"
user preferences for the old Open DeskTop product. Is that right?
Can it be moved then to my "root"'s home at "/root"?
This is what the "file" command has to say about the second one:
$ file /.unixsyms
/.unixsyms: iAPX 386 COFF demand-paged executable not stripped
There is a man page for sysdump(ADM), and from there it seems this
file has the kernel symbols. Is that right?
The third one is an ASCII file with some information which looks
like could be of interest to the "scoadmin" utility. Is there any
reason for it to be at the "/" directory?
After installing Maintenance Pack 5, I got several more hidden
files at the "/" directory:
drwxr-xr-x 3 bin bin 512 Jul 14 02:43 /.channels
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 30 Jul 14 02:43 /.depdb -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.depdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 34 Jul 14 02:43 /.depdblock -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.depdblock
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 32 Jul 14 02:43 /.filemap -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.filemap
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 29 Jul 14 02:43 /.lock -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.lock
The "/.channels" directory and the other files, are them all relative
to PHP4, which was installed (or just updated, I'm not sure, I just
did a default MP5 install over my OSR5.0.7 system, which was installed
with the "Lightweight character terminal" system profile).
It strikes me as quite ugly to see all those PHP4 files there, at the
root directory no less! Has it to be like that? Could they be moved to
some other place?; if yes, where should they go?
Also, I have another question. I noticed all this because the "ls"
command, when invoked by the "root" user, always shows hidden files
regardless of the "-a" parameter. Why is "ls" doing that? Can it be
reverted to more "standard" behavior?
Best regards,
Pepe.
Bela Lubkin
> After a fresh install of OSR 5.0.7, and once I had manually moved
> the "root" user home directory out of "/" and into its own "/root",
> i was left with these hidden files at the root directory:
>
> /.odtpref/
> /.unixsyms
> /.utillist2
>
> The first one is a hidden directory and I guess it has the "root"
> user preferences for the old Open DeskTop product. Is that right?
> Can it be moved then to my "root"'s home at "/root"?
That's a per-user directory, move it to your new home directory.
> This is what the "file" command has to say about the second one:
>
> $ file /.unixsyms
> /.unixsyms: iAPX 386 COFF demand-paged executable not stripped
>
> There is a man page for sysdump(ADM), and from there it seems this
> file has the kernel symbols. Is that right?
Right. It's a per-system file and should stay in /.
> The third one is an ASCII file with some information which looks
> like could be of interest to the "scoadmin" utility. Is there any
> reason for it to be at the "/" directory?
It's a per-user file that has to do with `scosh` and related
character-mode apps. Move to /root/.
> After installing Maintenance Pack 5, I got several more hidden
> files at the "/" directory:
>
> drwxr-xr-x 3 bin bin 512 Jul 14 02:43 /.channels
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 30 Jul 14 02:43 /.depdb -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.depdb
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 34 Jul 14 02:43 /.depdblock -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.depdblock
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 32 Jul 14 02:43 /.filemap -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.filemap
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root sys 29 Jul 14 02:43 /.lock -> /opt/K/SCO/php4/4.4.2Ba/.lock
>
> The "/.channels" directory and the other files, are them all relative
> to PHP4, which was installed (or just updated, I'm not sure, I just
> did a default MP5 install over my OSR5.0.7 system, which was installed
> with the "Lightweight character terminal" system profile).
>
> It strikes me as quite ugly to see all those PHP4 files there, at the
> root directory no less! Has it to be like that? Could they be moved to
> some other place?; if yes, where should they go?
These are per-system files/directories and presumably their location has
been hard-compiled into the MP5 build of PHP. So just put up with them.
> Also, I have another question. I noticed all this because the "ls"
> command, when invoked by the "root" user, always shows hidden files
> regardless of the "-a" parameter. Why is "ls" doing that? Can it be
> reverted to more "standard" behavior?
That _was_ standard behavior for `ls` for most of early Unix history.
Perhaps you should ask how to revert all your other GNU `ls` binaries to
the standard behavior? But mainly you should either get used to / put
up with the differences; or supply your root account with an `ls` alias
that parses the args and adds/removes "-a" according to your desires.
>Bela<
Pepe
>> Also, I have another question. I noticed all this because the "ls"
>> command, when invoked by the "root" user, always shows hidden files
>> regardless of the "-a" parameter. Why is "ls" doing that? Can it be
>> reverted to more "standard" behavior?
>
> That _was_ standard behavior for `ls` for most of early Unix history.
> Perhaps you should ask how to revert all your other GNU `ls` binaries to
> the standard behavior? But mainly you should either get used to / put
> up with the differences; or supply your root account with an `ls` alias
> that parses the args and adds/removes "-a" according to your desires.
I see here:
http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/000095399/utilities/ls.html that
both OSR5 and GNU behavior for the "ls" command can be considered to fit
into the letter of the "standard". There is also a funny mention about
"historical implementations"... So, while OSR5's "ls" behavior does
indeed fit *also* into the "official standard", it is certainly "uncommon".
Now, "uncommon" is a word which lends itself to several connotations,
into which I have no desire to dwell.
Regards,
Pepe.
John DuBois
>Also, I have another question. I noticed all this because the "ls"
>command, when invoked by the "root" user, always shows hidden files
>regardless of the "-a" parameter. Why is "ls" doing that? Can it be
>reverted to more "standard" behavior?
Someone thought it was a good idea long, long ago - like the behavior of GNU
ls, which inherited the BSD tradition of varying its listing format based on
whether the output is a tty or not.
It's specifically -A that is initially inverted for root, not -a. This is
relevant because the effect of -A can be toggled. If you do "ls -A", you'll
get the effect you want. You can create a shell function or script that always
adds -A to ls, and since each -A toggles the effect, you'll still be able to
see hidden files by giving an additional -A on the command line.
John
--
John DuBois spc...@armory.com KC6QKZ/AE http://www.armory.com/~spcecdt/
Pepe
Oh, I see: it's the "-A" switch which toggles it. I was issuing the
command "ls -a" in vain in an attempt to revert "ls" behavior when
invoked as root, and it obviously kept showing those hidden files. So
alias ls='ls -A' did the trick (I'm running the Korn shell for root).
Thanks for pointing out this subtlety.