Use symbolic links instead of aliases on the desktop

Dec 16, '02 08:00:08AM

Contributed by: Anonymous

If you make aliases on your Desktop of folders like "Home" and "Applications," you'll notice that they all have the same generic folder icon. While this hint does not cover how to set your own icon, you can use the icon the folder provides by using UNIX's symbolic links. First delete any aliases from your Desktop that have a pretty icon in the Finder. Then use the Terminal to create a real symlink:

 % ln -s /Applications ~/Desktop/Applications
% ln -s ~/ ~/Desktop/Home
Then click on your Desktop and you'll have a pretty "Application" and "Home" icon.

[Editor's note: The other big advantage of symbolic links over aliases is found when you use the Terminal. If you try "cd ~/Desktop/Applications" it will fail if you created an alias in the Finder, but it will work perfectly if you created a symbolic link instead. I'm not sure if this is a bug or feature or if my machine is just messed up, but I first noticed it with a Downloads folder that I keep on another drive. I had created an alias on the desktop, then tried to 'cd' into the alias to compile a UNIX app I downloaded. Once I changed it to a symlink, everything was fine.]

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