Categories
Applications

Dropbox Finally Implements Selective Sync

Dropbox, my favorite file syncing service has finally implemented selective file sync in a the latest release candidate build. This is awesome for those of us who’ve bought a premium account with lots of space! Previously any folders in your Dropbox were synced to all your computers. This meant for instance my 8GB of music would be synced to any virtual machine I linked to my Dropbox which is a waste of space and bandwidth. Now I can chose just one or two folders to sync which is what I’ve already done on my Ubuntu VM. This will be a very useful feature for Netbooks with small hard drives and all sorts of portable devices.

So far it’s worked without issue on my Mac and Linux machines. Have you tried selective sync yet?

Categories
Ubuntu

How to Show Hidden Files In Ubuntu

Ubuntu Logo
Ubuntu Logo

The default install of Ubuntu includes the Gnome desktop environment and the Nautilus file manager, this is the Linux equivalent to Windows Explorer or Mac OS X’s Finder. In Ubuntu and Linux in general most programs hold their settings and configuration data under a folder prefixed with a . (period) in your home folder. By default most file managers hide these folders to make using the system and finding/accessing your files easier. For this reason it’s best just show hidden files briefly and not all the time.

To show hidden folders in Ubuntu simple open a Nautilus window (your home folder) and press Ctrl H. This will show all hidden folders in and files in this window where ever you navigate to. If you would ike to rehide them simply press Ctrl H again.

Here are screen shots of Ubuntu with hidden files both shown and hidden:

Standard Ubuntu Home Folder
Standard Ubuntu Home Folder
Ubuntu Home Folder with Hidden Files
Ubuntu Home Folder with Hidden Files