[GNC] Moving to Linux

Jim DeLaHunt list+gnucash at jdlh.com
Sat Mar 13 16:52:45 EST 2021


On 2021-03-13 02:14, Stephen C. Camidge wrote:
> I am moving my data from Mac OS to Linux Manjaro.… …the Mac creates invisible '._*' files for each datafile…

FYI, these "._*" files are metadata companions to other files in the 
same directory. If you have a file "._mybook.gnucash" (to invent an 
example), you probably have a file "mybook.gnucash" in the same directory.

This pair of files recreates a capability that Mac and other filesystems 
have: to store metadata along with the data of a file. For 
introductions, see:
/Why are dot underscore ._ files created, and how can I avoid them?/ 
<https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/14980/17600 
<https://apple.stackexchange.com/q/14980/17600>>, and
/Resource fork, //Compatibility problems/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_fork#Compatibility_problems 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_fork#Compatibility_problems>> 
for introductions.

It's probably more correct to think of your non-Mac system as creating 
these files. Did you publish your Linux file system to the Mac using 
NetATalk or Samba, and then use the Mac Finder to copy the files from 
the Mac file system to that published file system? If so, then NetATalk 
or Samba told the Mac it supported storing metadata, when the underlying 
Linux file system did not have a way of storing metadata. Thus perhaps 
NetATalk or Samba created these "._*" files as a workaround for storing 
the file metadata.

My understanding is that Linux file systems can actually store file 
metadata in the form of "extended attributes". But also, I believe that 
most Linux apps don't use file metadata. Thus you might be safe to 
delete all the ._* files. Other replies in this thread, and the 
Apple.Stackexchange.com article above, have offered ways to delete the 
files if you don't want them.

Best regards,
      —Jim DeLaHunt




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