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Invisible folders

post #1 of 7
8/4/06 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Is there anyway to make the user folders on a Mac to be invisible? I mean to be invisible just for the users not for the system, somekind like the hidden folders. I want to be able to open them with Finder's "Go to folder". I ask this not for some kind of securing those folders, but because I connect remotely to that Mac and I want to use just 1 folder from the user and the rest (Desktop, Documents, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, Sites) just bother my eyes.

If this is not possible can I at least make them very very transparent in some manner?

10x
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post #2 of 7
8/4/06 at 10:32am
First, a note: the Pictures/Movies/etc folders, with the exception of Library and Desktop, can be deleted with no consequence. Just make sure to move the stuff out first, and to respecify your music directory if you have iTunes music in there.

Second, I believe you can hide folders by putting a dot in front of the name, ie, Stuff turned to .Stuff should be invisible.

Somebody correct me on either or both of my points if I'm wrong. THREADSTARTER: wait till somebody else puts their two cents in, I'm not 100% sure.
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post #3 of 7
8/4/06 at 10:39am
This program should do the trick:

http://www.altomac.com/hide_folders/
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post #4 of 7
8/5/06 at 1:32pm
To make a folder invisible you will have to start the name with a dot "." but you will need to use the Terminal to do this. The command 'mv' is used to rename files and folders.
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post #5 of 7
8/5/06 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artanis

Is there anyway to make the user folders on a Mac to be invisible? I mean to be invisible just for the users not for the system, somekind like the hidden folders. I want to be able to open them with Finder's "Go to folder". I ask this not for some kind of securing those folders, but because I connect remotely to that Mac and I want to use just 1 folder from the user and the rest (Desktop, Documents, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, Sites) just bother my eyes.

If this is not possible can I at least make them very very transparent in some manner?

10x

Okay so first it's hidden password protected disk partitions and now it's invisible folders.... While I'd rather not speculate as to exactly what you're trying to hide (and please I'd REALLY rather not know) I will say this.

OS X is a MULTI-USER OS where each user has his/her own HOME DIRECTORY that is NOT (or should not unless you've really screwed things up) accessible to the other users of the system. If you have other people using the system you SHOULD NOT fear them seeing your 'special files' (wink wink nudge nudge say no more say no more) since the only way that could ever happen is if you left your account logged-in (not a good thing when trying to hide things) or if you shared your password with someone you were trying to hide things from (again not the smartest thing you could do).

Good luck, and I for one am pulling for you to not get caught even though my wife hopes you do.

Dave
Apple Fanboy: Anyone who started liking Apple before I did!
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Apple Fanboy: Anyone who started liking Apple before I did!
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post #6 of 7
8/7/06 at 4:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveGee

Okay so first it's hidden password protected disk partitions and now it's invisible folders.... While I'd rather not speculate as to exactly what you're trying to hide (and please I'd REALLY rather not know) I will say this.

OS X is a MULTI-USER OS where each user has his/her own HOME DIRECTORY that is NOT (or should not unless you've really screwed things up) accessible to the other users of the system. If you have other people using the system you SHOULD NOT fear them seeing your 'special files' (wink wink nudge nudge say no more say no more) since the only way that could ever happen is if you left your account logged-in (not a good thing when trying to hide things) or if you shared your password with someone you were trying to hide things from (again not the smartest thing you could do).

Good luck, and I for one am pulling for you to not get caught even though my wife hopes you do.

Dave

Ok, the reason for what I am asking is to use the Mac Mini @ my office as LAN disk drive. The hidden stuff would be some files that not all the employees should see obviusly.

The thing is that I can't hide those folders ( I don't need them to be hidden for security, like I said I nedd them to be hidden because they bother my eyes).

It seems theat with no software am not able to hide the system folders (Desktop and Library), because this actually this programs change the name of the directory.

Is there any application that makes folders transparent?
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post #7 of 7
8/7/06 at 5:36am
You could set up your own shared folder structure (outside the /Users folder, e.g. on an external hardddrive, therefore avoiding the Desktop and Library folders) by using "SharePoints" (find it on Versiontracker). With SharePoints, you can even define user and groups preferences for each shared folder.

But as you're looking for a solution for connecting more than 10 users to the same Mac mini at once in your office (see your other thread " Mac mini as LAN disk drive"), you are forced to buy OS X Server 10.4 (unlimited clients version), because both the "regular" Mac OS X that came with the Mac mini as well as OS X Server 10.4 (10-Client license) are restricted to 10 concurrent users accessing the server (or quasi-server).

But beware: OS X Server 10.4 is, if I recall things correctly, right now available only for the PPC platform. So if you have an Intel Mac mini, you're restricted to 10 concurrent connections only.
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