[peytwan]

Amen! Amen! Amen! I am glad this article was written.
I hope software developers are reading this. The one thing I liked about Windows is "My Documents" contained just that; MY documents. Looking over the Documents folder of my computer now I see Sim City, Microsoft User Data, Virtual PC List, Updater, EA Games, Adobe Stock Photos and other offenders. I'm scared to move them b/c I don't know what would happen if I did. But I would love to send them on their way to another folder.

[danmusician]

Actually, I have only recently started using the documents folder. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Going all the way back to OS 6, I was just always in the habit of organizing my projects in folders on the hard drive directory. I ignored the documents folder when it appeared. (Was it OS 8? 9?)
When I started using OS X, I thought it was weird that the OS lead me to a home folder inside the user folder instead of to the hard drive directory. So, I just started making folders in my home folder like I always did pre OS X. A couple of months ago, I gave in and started using the documents folder. Not really sure why I did.
I guess the whole Home folder concept is lost on my because I have always been the only user of my machine.
In any event, I have used Migration Assistant to move from a G3 iBook to a G4 Powerbook to a MacBook Pro. It always took all of my folders and files, from the HD drive directory (old habits die hard!) and my user folder.

[nasasimo]

One way I have got around this is to create a new folder in Documents called "My Stuff" and the create an alias that appears in the 'Dock' and in the 'Finder'. Works a treat!

[ginckgo]

For some time now I've always created 3 partitions: System, Applications, Documents. I put all documents I create into the Documents partition, including all music and pictures, etc. I almost completely ignore all the directories in the User folder.
My main reasons were so that my wife could access all the files when she logged in (we have no secrets - barf!), and someone convinced me that it's useful to not have personally created files on the same drive as the virtual memory.
However, occasionally this seems to cause weird behavior, especially with permissions on the Documents partition.

[alansky]

What's the difference whether the main folder containing your folders of personal files is called Documents or "Ralph"? As far as I can see, this "solution" solves a non-existent problem. Why not just create a bunch of sub-folders within the Documents folder? I've been using Macs since they were invented and have never thought the Documents folder was cluttered with an excessive number of application-related folders. What does it matter if there are ten folders inside the Documents folder or thirty? That's what sorted lists are for!
One more thing: using the Desktop as a permanent home for folders full of files is a great way to accidentally throw your files in the Trash. Why risk an accident when it is so easy to create Desktop aliases for often-used folders that live in Documents or elsewhere in your Home directory?

[tmedia1]

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Frustrated by the number of non-user-created files and folders in your Documents folder? Learn how to solve the problem by avoiding the problem. <a href="http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/2006/11/ditchdocs/index.php">[more]</a>

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Another huge frustration I have with OSX is that when I go to the finder or any save dialogue, inevitably the column view is never long enough to show the whole file name and I have to drag the column larger EVERY SINGLE TIME! Why doesn't OSX automatically size the column to fit the file name length? Is there a utility that will do this? Apple, are you listening?

[Machound]

Yes, and why is it necessary to manually select "Calculate Folder Sizes" every time I reboot. The list of minor annoyances is pretty long. Fortunately, they're minor annoyances.
Stuff like this should have been fixed years ago, though.

[dmstewart]

As the guy whose post engendered this column, I just want to add that yes, I do realize that the way to avoid the issue is to abandon the Documents folder. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Which I did with 10.0, when I realized it was going to become a slag heap due to lazy app programmers and their arrogant, imperialistic ways. Actually I keep my documents in the Documents folder of my iDisk. Mirrored on my iMac, I can always get my files wherever I am. Before moving to almost total iDisk storage, I had ~/My Documents.
Extreme tangent:
The parallel to this bad behavior on Mac programmers' part is how every application installed in Windows 9x through XP (and I'll bet Xista, I mean Vista) goes ahead and creates its own folder in ~Documents and SettingsStart MenuPrograms [or All Users...] -- that is, its own folder (holding what? Why, shortcuts for BongoApp, ReadMe.txt, Uninstall BongoApp, Manual, Special Offer.pdf, BongoDataManager, etc., etc.) -- within the Start menu. I see a lot of Start menus that are rendered craplacious, even larger than screen height in many case, by the combination of arrogant programmers' installers and Windows users' complete ignorance of the fact that they can alter the thing.

[bastion]

(Sadly, Apple ignores their own guidelines -- see /Library/Mail and /Library/Safari.)
But the whole of ~/Library is exempted from the "don't put stuff in ~ rule.

[JMStafford]

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One of my biggest pet peeves is when software creates folders and saves files in places it shouldn't. This includes the Documents folder and the root level of the Library folder. Apple's developer guidelines make it very clear that apps shouldn't be doing this -- they explicitly point out that all non-user-created data (a.k.a., anything but documents) belong in ~/Library/Application Support -- but many developers ignore those guidelines. I'm actually writing an editorial about this...

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If you want to send your peevometer off of the scale just look at a typical Windows XP install. Have you seen how much s--- gets installed in the root of the Windows folder? Hell it's polluted with crap at install.

[tomem]

Some Apple apps do this, notably AppleWorks. I suspect all developers who do this believe they are storing personal documents there. Microsoft stores email there, which is a certainly a whole lot better than storing it in the Library/Mail folder like Apple does. Not that I would use Entourage...
But this begs the question of what better organization could be found for a user home folder. I'm still a bit dubious of Apple's insistence that documents, pictures, music, and movies should be separated from each other at the top level. But Apple clearly believes that separate database managers are needed for each of these (with some crossover between music and movies apparent). I wonder if that will persist or if the Finder will eventually become capable of handling any kind of content.
If there was no necessary distinction between text, graphics, music, and movies, what then would be the most useful organization of a home folder? Would we just skip the whole folder thing and put tags on everything that would allow items to appear in several "places" at once? Google mail and Apple Spotlight seem to be leading in that direction. And the proliferation of wikis may help this happen by increasing acceptance of using the Find function in place of navigating hierarchical folder system.
Hard to tell where this is all going...

[zellerman]

From the article:

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However, I dont know how well it would work with an automated tool like Apples Migration Assistant (for moving data to a new Mac). If you do use such an app, just make sure its copied all your data across before you delete the originals.

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I used Migration Asst two weeks ago to migrate to my new MBP. It moved all my data and apps (including folders such as my personal @Documents folder and @Downloads) just fine. Evidently, the only data it did not move was app prefs... Everytime I launched an app it thought I was running for the first time. Prefs for apps had to be reconfigured. Other than that, migration from my G4 tower to my MBP was seamless and as easy as a one button click! (assuming of course that I selected the proper options)

[Dan Frakes]

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But the whole of ~/Library is exempted from the "don't put stuff in ~ rule.

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Not at all. Apple is very clear that applications should place support files in specific subdirectories of ~/Library, not at the root level of ~/Library.

[ajhoughton]

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No, don't blame Apple, blame the software developers.

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Yes, I am a software developer, and I say that the people responsible for this nonsense deserve the blame also. My Documents folder is mine, and I don't appreciate things like "Microsoft User Data" polluting it. If it's preference information, it should be in ~/Library/Preferences, and if it's other application specific data it should be in one of the other folders in ~/Library (possibly Application Support/Microsoft User Data, but there are other subdirectories of ~/Library that are acceptable also).
As for pollution of the Library folder itself, that's annoying too, though less so than the Documents folder.
If it isn't already, Apple should make this part of the logo requirements, so that Microsoft, Adobe and the other miscreants can't use the Mac logo on their software if they can't stop themselves from sticking files and folders in the wrong place.