Changing path of Desktop folder

anderas · #1 June 19th, 2004, 02:38 PM

Being able to somehow change the directory from where Finder draws the desktop would be great. As I have been using Gnome (Linux DE) for the past year before buying my Powerbook, I've grown very fond of the feature to have the the users home folder act as the desktop (it is so great and logical.) So does anyone else know how to do it?

I couldn't find a way to do it, and the apple support guy couldn't either. I tried another approach, however, where I symlinked the Desktop folder to my user folder. That gave the desired effect, except for one thing: A symlink to my home folder called "Desktop" appeared on my desktop, which really ruined the perfection of OS X. So could it be possible to hide a symlink? Setting the invisble bit does not work.

Thank you in advance!

- Andreas

ElDiabloConCaca · #2 June 19th, 2004, 04:59 PM

Try renaming the symlink in the Terminal and put a "." (period) at the front of it.

anderas · #3 June 19th, 2004, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElDiabloConCaca

Try renaming the symlink in the Terminal and put a "." (period) at the front of it.

That won't work, as the desktop folder must have the name "Desktop". If you add a period in front of the name Finder will upon restart recreate the folder "Desktop", and ignore your symlink.

DeltaMac · #4 June 19th, 2004, 09:25 PM

Wow, enter your Desktop, open the Desktop folder, then open the Desktop, and then again open the Desktop - seems like a Sci-Fi story where you leave a room and instantly re-enter from another direction.

If you place aliases of your user folders in your Desktop folder, that would also have the effect of having your user folder as your desktop. Just don't make an alias of your Desktop folder, you may end up looking at the beginning when you get to the end.

anderas · #5 June 20th, 2004, 07:58 AM

Aliasing each individual item wouldn't have the true effect of having your home as your desktop, as everything you download/copy to your desktop won't show up in your home folder. It would feel like a pretty bad hack...

DeltaMac · #6 June 20th, 2004, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anderas

Aliasing each individual item wouldn't have the true effect of having your home as your desktop, as everything you download/copy to your desktop won't show up in your home folder. It would feel like a pretty bad hack...

Obviously, you did not try this. You would see that your statement is completely inaccurate, as EVERYTHING that you download/copy to your desktop does in fact show up in your home folder (in your Desktop folder, because that's where YOUR desktop resides.) You'll see that anything placed on your own desktop, is also in your Desktop folder. That's why I specifically mentioned not to alias your Desktop folder, as that would get REALLY confusing in a hurry, you get deja vu all over again.

anderas · #7 June 21st, 2004, 09:33 PM

I'm a Unix guy. I want it to work so as when I download a file to my Home, it shows up on my desktop. When I download a file to my desktop, I want it to be listed when I ls /Users/anderas in iTerm, so I can manipulate the file fast from both the command line and Finder. Aliasing each folder from my home to my Desktop would not create that effect!

DeltaMac · #8 June 22nd, 2004, 06:44 PM

I guess I mis-read your first post. I explained how you could have your user folder appear as your desktop, but you want the opposite, which of course is not the same.
What happens if you symlink your user folder to your Desktop folder? (notice that this is the reverse of what you mentioned in your first post!) Of course, the Desktop folder will still get in the way, because your desktop is already in your user folder! Just so you know, I get quite confused by these circular references