Ubuntu – Does Linux have folders like %appdata% and ProgramData

directoryextensionfilesnautilus

On Windows, these folders get filled up with all kinds of nonsense that programs you uninstalled left behind. ProgramData is a hidden C folder, and %appdata% is usually accessed via search. They contain savegames, configuration files, etc. As time passes, most of it becomes trash which plugs up your drive.

Does Linux have such hidden folders where programs leave their files without asking you? I know about usr/share/applications, and about the hidden ctrl+H folder .local/share/applications. I dont relly know the difference between those two, I only know that if you put something in the latter, that it will change your settings. Please educate me. Where do programs put their files, and do some stay behind after you uninstall them?

Best Answer

If you turn on show hidden folders at your Home location there are a bunch of folders indeed like ~/.thunderbird etc. I find all my needed saves and settings there.

In most file managers including GNOME Files (a. k. a. Nautilus) you can press Ctrl+H to toggle the display of hidden files.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How does the Trash Can work, and where can I find official documentation, reference, or specification for it

GNOME is using .Trash correctly as far as I understand - if you look in gio/glocalfile.c source you'd see that it does make an attempt to use the .Trash directory if it exists. Do note though that the directory has to have the correct permissions for users to be able to safely store trash files in it (and in safely here, I mean that other users won't be able to recover user's trashed files). For this GNOME requires that the .Trash directory must have the sticky bit set on it - see Trash Directories,note (1) in FreeDesktop.Org's Trash specification.

The main problem with the above approach, is that most r/w removable media you find is FAT, which doesn't support the sticky bit so the only way to handle this safely is to use a per user trash directory.

Regarding root Trash - I can't reproduce the problem you describe, it seems to work well for me.

Regarding /etc/fstab - I'm not sure what is the problem there: you should need to mess around with fstab, unless you want full control over where an external file system is mounted. Normally removable media is mounted automatically upon detection in /media for the user that is currently active, but it is then inaccessible to any other user. If you want a different setup then you should mess with the configuration file. I don't see how that relates to trash, though.

Ubuntu – Remove Leading or Trailing Space(s) in File or Folder Names

To remove any number of leading spaces from file names you can use rename (prename) :
```
rename -n 's/^ *//' *
```
To remove any number of trailing spaces from file names you can use rename (prename) :
```
rename -n 's/ *$//' *
```
Remove -n (dry-run) if you are satisfied with the file names.
To remove files or folders that are empty (recursively) :
```
find . -empty
```
Satisfied ? Let the action take place :
```
find . -empty -delete
```
Only in the current directory :
```
find . -maxdepth 1 -empty -delete
```
Also use -type f for only files and -type d for only directories if you want.

Read man rename and man find to get more idea.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How does the Trash Can work, and where can I find official documentation, reference, or specification for it

Ubuntu – Remove Leading or Trailing Space(s) in File or Folder Names

Related Question