Ok from what I have learned, a . at the beginning of a file/directory makes it hidden. So if I make my 'downloads' directory into a '.downloads' directory, how can I still access it while in X? And a bit further, if I have a program that stores downloads in that directory (example gtk-gnutella default directory) can it still put stuff in there as long as I change the path in the program to show '.downloads' instead of 'downloads'?

Is this confusing?

Prefixing a directory with a dot does not in any way effect what can access it (unless the application is badly coded and can't cope with the dot).

You might have trouble accessing it through a GUI unless the GUI allows you to type file names manually or show hidden files.

Security through obscurity isn't security at all (<cough>Internet Information Server<cough>), if you want to prevent people browsing a directory chmod mode it to 700, that way only the owner (and root) can look inside it (unless the viewer has physical access to the disk, in which case they could bypass all the software security by running copy of Linux from a floppy disk with root acceess for themselves.).

Cool, thanks. No actually not real security, but rather obstructing certain 'files' from certain viewers eyes rather. I just don't want some things to be found through GUI very easily.

Thanks again.

Most GUI file viewers have the ability, or least the option, to view "dot" files. If you really want to keep certain files away from prying eyes or accidental eyes, use real security policies.

Cool, thanks. The inlaws are coming in town and my father in law likes to look for certain "mpeg" files. Figure I can hide them from him by putting them in Linux for one, but to take an extra step I will make a . directory. Although I may set a new pass for root too and make the chmod to 700 too. Just don't want to take chances, but also don't want to delete said files.

Thanks for all the info

And (unrelated), where do you become a registered Linux user?

Well, if you wanna be really hardcore about this, you could set the permissions of the diretory in question (and the files/directories within it) to 000 when you're done downloading, and then restore the permissions (600 or 700) when you are in the process of downloading/uploading stuff from it.

P.S. How is the Gnutella network doing nowadays? I heard it's pretty bad...