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I'm guessing it's because /etc contains configuration files and dot-files are just configuration files. Or do you mean, why was /etc named etc?
by napum 14y ago
I'm guessing it's because /etc contains configuration files and dot-files are just configuration files. Or do you mean, why was /etc named etc?
- deno 14y agoI think they meant the latter. Why is it /etc instead of, perhaps more obvious, /config or /settings?
- malkia 14y agoIf it was meant for configuration - probably it would've been - /cfg /ini /set /opt /flg /arg /prm (params) As someone said - naming things is the hardest!
- petercooper 14y agoFor the latter, a lazy copy/paste from Wikipedia: "There has been controversy over the meaning of the name itself. In early versions of the UNIX Implementation Document from Bell labs, /etc is referred to as the etcetera directory as this directory historically held everything that did not belong elsewhere (however, the FHS restricts /etc to static configuration files and may not contain binaries)."