Re: .emacs-settings.el

[Ted Zlatanov]

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:55:36 -0400 Stefan Monnier <address@hidden> wrote: 

>> I think you've missed the difference between a hidden file anywhere in
>> the directory tree and in a well-known location.  We're talking about a
>> {project,dir-locals}.el file that in /a, /a/b, /a/b/c, or /a/b/c/d could
>> affect the settings for /a/b/c/d/* and every file under that.  You'd
>> have to do a `find` to get all the hidden files (or some equivalent
>> shell game).  That's what I mean by "suprising" and "hidden."  Only a
>> few applications put such hidden settings files outside the home
>> directory, I can think only of the CVS .cvsignore and Subversion .svn
>> directories at the moment.

SM> There are many more: .arch-inventory, .arch-ids, .bzr, .hg.  Some use _darcs
SM> or _MTN but other than CVS (which was often considered as a mistake) most
SM> distinguish their name either with a leading . or a leading _.

Other than Eclipse, these are all VCS software packages, which is
interesting.  I've also seen hidden files used by MacOS for file
metadata and I remember .xvpics which was used for caching thumbnails.
Hidden files do tend to accumulate mostly under ~ though.

As I said in another followup, however, I'm OK with making these
override files hidden as long as messaging and C-h v/customize-variable
report their usage.  So please don't let my comments delay this very
useful functionality from making an appearance.

Ted