Why do you have to put ~/ before .bashrc when opening the .bashrc file? [duplicate]
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This question already has an answer here:
What is a ~ (tilde) when used as a prefix to a path?
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As the title suggests I'm wondering why it is required to put ~/ before .bashrc when opening the bashrc file.
To illustrate:
I normally open files on my system as follows:
vim filename.extension
But while in the /home directory if I do the following:
vim .bashrc
vim will open a new file called .bashrc
In order to open my bashrc file I must do as follows:
vim ~/.bashrc
Why?
Note: If it makes any difference I am new to Unix and my current system is Linux Mint 18.3
linux bash tilde
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
marked as duplicate by Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Anthony Geoghegan, Rui F Ribeiro linux
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This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.
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up vote
3
down vote
favorite
This question already has an answer here:
What is a ~ (tilde) when used as a prefix to a path?
2 answers
As the title suggests I'm wondering why it is required to put ~/ before .bashrc when opening the bashrc file.
To illustrate:
I normally open files on my system as follows:
vim filename.extension
But while in the /home directory if I do the following:
vim .bashrc
vim will open a new file called .bashrc
In order to open my bashrc file I must do as follows:
vim ~/.bashrc
Why?
Note: If it makes any difference I am new to Unix and my current system is Linux Mint 18.3
linux bash tilde
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
marked as duplicate by Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Anthony Geoghegan, Rui F Ribeiro linux
Users with the  linux badge can single-handedly close linux questions as duplicates and reopen them as needed.
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Jun 13 at 22:12
This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.
You can save the file (:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.
– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
~is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?
– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
1
note: it isfilenamenotfilename.extensionUnix does not have file extensions. a.us just a.. Except when the.is the first character, in this case it tellslsnot to list it (it is hidden).
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
5
/homeis not the home you are looking for.$HOMEis where the home is. Your home will (probably) be/home/yourname.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
This question already has an answer here:
What is a ~ (tilde) when used as a prefix to a path?
2 answers
As the title suggests I'm wondering why it is required to put ~/ before .bashrc when opening the bashrc file.
To illustrate:
I normally open files on my system as follows:
vim filename.extension
But while in the /home directory if I do the following:
vim .bashrc
vim will open a new file called .bashrc
In order to open my bashrc file I must do as follows:
vim ~/.bashrc
Why?
Note: If it makes any difference I am new to Unix and my current system is Linux Mint 18.3
linux bash tilde
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
This question already has an answer here:
What is a ~ (tilde) when used as a prefix to a path?
2 answers
As the title suggests I'm wondering why it is required to put ~/ before .bashrc when opening the bashrc file.
To illustrate:
I normally open files on my system as follows:
vim filename.extension
But while in the /home directory if I do the following:
vim .bashrc
vim will open a new file called .bashrc
In order to open my bashrc file I must do as follows:
vim ~/.bashrc
Why?
Note: If it makes any difference I am new to Unix and my current system is Linux Mint 18.3
This question already has an answer here:
What is a ~ (tilde) when used as a prefix to a path?
2 answers
linux bash tilde
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
edited Jun 13 at 10:33
GAD3R
22.1k154891
22.1k154891
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
asked Jun 13 at 9:47
MarkMark
9417
9417
marked as duplicate by Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Anthony Geoghegan, Rui F Ribeiro linux
Users with the  linux badge can single-handedly close linux questions as duplicates and reopen them as needed.
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Jun 13 at 22:12
This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.
You can save the file (:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.
– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
~is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?
– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
1
note: it isfilenamenotfilename.extensionUnix does not have file extensions. a.us just a.. Except when the.is the first character, in this case it tellslsnot to list it (it is hidden).
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
5
/homeis not the home you are looking for.$HOMEis where the home is. Your home will (probably) be/home/yourname.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20
 |Â
show 1 more comment
You can save the file (:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.
– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
~is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?
– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
1
note: it isfilenamenotfilename.extensionUnix does not have file extensions. a.us just a.. Except when the.is the first character, in this case it tellslsnot to list it (it is hidden).
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
5
/homeis not the home you are looking for.$HOMEis where the home is. Your home will (probably) be/home/yourname.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20
You can save the file (
:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
You can save the file (
:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
~ is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
~ is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
1
1
note: it is
filename not filename.extension Unix does not have file extensions. a . us just a .. Except when the . is the first character, in this case it tells ls not to list it (it is hidden).– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
note: it is
filename not filename.extension Unix does not have file extensions. a . us just a .. Except when the . is the first character, in this case it tells ls not to list it (it is hidden).– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
5
5
/home is not the home you are looking for. $HOME is where the home is. Your home will (probably) be /home/yourname.– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20
/home is not the home you are looking for. $HOME is where the home is. Your home will (probably) be /home/yourname.– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20
 |Â
show 1 more comment
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
13
down vote
accepted
The ~ or ~/ refers to the absolute path of your home directory a.k.a. /home/username.
Additionally, if you try cd ~ or cd ~/ they will both do the same thing; the shortest option being simply cd. All three options take you to your home directory. NOT /home.
Since .bashrc is located in your home directory, you must specify its location by adding the tilde, which allows you to point to home directory from wherever you are and thus access the .bashrc.
Of course, this works for any other files and folders located in your ~, for example:
cd ~/myFolder~/myScript.sh
What you were trying to do is open .bashrc, but since vim checks in your current location if the file already exists or not, it will create a new .bashrc file in your current pwd, since there is no current .bashrc where you were trying to open it.
In other words, if you were in /home/username/someFolder/someSubFolder, doing the vim .bashrc command will create a new .bashrc file, since there is no already existing .bashrc and you did not point to the right path, which is /home/username/.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc).
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
The key insight is that/homeshould not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where/home/MYDOMAIN/*is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).
– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
add a comment |Â
up vote
21
down vote
Your difficulty might come from this:
while in the /home directory
.bashrc isn’t in /home, it’s in your home directory (often /home/username, and yes, it’s confusing), which you can go to by typing
cd
Once you’re there,
vim .bashrc
will open the existing file.
Always using
vim ~/.bashrc
means you never need to think about where you are ;-).
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in/usr;-)
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on/usr.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use/usr/home/usernamefor the home ofusername.
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not/home/$USERbut/Users/$USER
– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
 |Â
show 5 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
13
down vote
accepted
The ~ or ~/ refers to the absolute path of your home directory a.k.a. /home/username.
Additionally, if you try cd ~ or cd ~/ they will both do the same thing; the shortest option being simply cd. All three options take you to your home directory. NOT /home.
Since .bashrc is located in your home directory, you must specify its location by adding the tilde, which allows you to point to home directory from wherever you are and thus access the .bashrc.
Of course, this works for any other files and folders located in your ~, for example:
cd ~/myFolder~/myScript.sh
What you were trying to do is open .bashrc, but since vim checks in your current location if the file already exists or not, it will create a new .bashrc file in your current pwd, since there is no current .bashrc where you were trying to open it.
In other words, if you were in /home/username/someFolder/someSubFolder, doing the vim .bashrc command will create a new .bashrc file, since there is no already existing .bashrc and you did not point to the right path, which is /home/username/.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc).
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
The key insight is that/homeshould not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where/home/MYDOMAIN/*is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).
– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
accepted
The ~ or ~/ refers to the absolute path of your home directory a.k.a. /home/username.
Additionally, if you try cd ~ or cd ~/ they will both do the same thing; the shortest option being simply cd. All three options take you to your home directory. NOT /home.
Since .bashrc is located in your home directory, you must specify its location by adding the tilde, which allows you to point to home directory from wherever you are and thus access the .bashrc.
Of course, this works for any other files and folders located in your ~, for example:
cd ~/myFolder~/myScript.sh
What you were trying to do is open .bashrc, but since vim checks in your current location if the file already exists or not, it will create a new .bashrc file in your current pwd, since there is no current .bashrc where you were trying to open it.
In other words, if you were in /home/username/someFolder/someSubFolder, doing the vim .bashrc command will create a new .bashrc file, since there is no already existing .bashrc and you did not point to the right path, which is /home/username/.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc).
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
The key insight is that/homeshould not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where/home/MYDOMAIN/*is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).
– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
accepted
up vote
13
down vote
accepted
The ~ or ~/ refers to the absolute path of your home directory a.k.a. /home/username.
Additionally, if you try cd ~ or cd ~/ they will both do the same thing; the shortest option being simply cd. All three options take you to your home directory. NOT /home.
Since .bashrc is located in your home directory, you must specify its location by adding the tilde, which allows you to point to home directory from wherever you are and thus access the .bashrc.
Of course, this works for any other files and folders located in your ~, for example:
cd ~/myFolder~/myScript.sh
What you were trying to do is open .bashrc, but since vim checks in your current location if the file already exists or not, it will create a new .bashrc file in your current pwd, since there is no current .bashrc where you were trying to open it.
In other words, if you were in /home/username/someFolder/someSubFolder, doing the vim .bashrc command will create a new .bashrc file, since there is no already existing .bashrc and you did not point to the right path, which is /home/username/.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc).
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
The ~ or ~/ refers to the absolute path of your home directory a.k.a. /home/username.
Additionally, if you try cd ~ or cd ~/ they will both do the same thing; the shortest option being simply cd. All three options take you to your home directory. NOT /home.
Since .bashrc is located in your home directory, you must specify its location by adding the tilde, which allows you to point to home directory from wherever you are and thus access the .bashrc.
Of course, this works for any other files and folders located in your ~, for example:
cd ~/myFolder~/myScript.sh
What you were trying to do is open .bashrc, but since vim checks in your current location if the file already exists or not, it will create a new .bashrc file in your current pwd, since there is no current .bashrc where you were trying to open it.
In other words, if you were in /home/username/someFolder/someSubFolder, doing the vim .bashrc command will create a new .bashrc file, since there is no already existing .bashrc and you did not point to the right path, which is /home/username/.bashrc (or ~/.bashrc).
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
edited Jun 14 at 11:09
Jeff Schaller
30.8k846105
30.8k846105
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
answered Jun 13 at 12:08
Jules L
1465
1465
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
The key insight is that/homeshould not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where/home/MYDOMAIN/*is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).
– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
add a comment |Â
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
The key insight is that/homeshould not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where/home/MYDOMAIN/*is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).
– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
that was a really helpful and informative answer. I understand it now.
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:17
3
3
The key insight is that
/home should not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where /home/MYDOMAIN/* is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
The key insight is that
/home should not be any account's home directory. It is the parent of most home directories (and the grandparent of Likewise users' home directories, at least in the implementation we use at work, where /home/MYDOMAIN/* is where the home directories for AD user in the MYDOMAIN domain reside).– Monty Harder
Jun 13 at 16:39
add a comment |Â
up vote
21
down vote
Your difficulty might come from this:
while in the /home directory
.bashrc isn’t in /home, it’s in your home directory (often /home/username, and yes, it’s confusing), which you can go to by typing
cd
Once you’re there,
vim .bashrc
will open the existing file.
Always using
vim ~/.bashrc
means you never need to think about where you are ;-).
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in/usr;-)
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on/usr.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use/usr/home/usernamefor the home ofusername.
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not/home/$USERbut/Users/$USER
– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
21
down vote
Your difficulty might come from this:
while in the /home directory
.bashrc isn’t in /home, it’s in your home directory (often /home/username, and yes, it’s confusing), which you can go to by typing
cd
Once you’re there,
vim .bashrc
will open the existing file.
Always using
vim ~/.bashrc
means you never need to think about where you are ;-).
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in/usr;-)
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on/usr.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use/usr/home/usernamefor the home ofusername.
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not/home/$USERbut/Users/$USER
– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
21
down vote
up vote
21
down vote
Your difficulty might come from this:
while in the /home directory
.bashrc isn’t in /home, it’s in your home directory (often /home/username, and yes, it’s confusing), which you can go to by typing
cd
Once you’re there,
vim .bashrc
will open the existing file.
Always using
vim ~/.bashrc
means you never need to think about where you are ;-).
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
Your difficulty might come from this:
while in the /home directory
.bashrc isn’t in /home, it’s in your home directory (often /home/username, and yes, it’s confusing), which you can go to by typing
cd
Once you’re there,
vim .bashrc
will open the existing file.
Always using
vim ~/.bashrc
means you never need to think about where you are ;-).
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
edited Jun 13 at 10:38
ilkkachu
47.5k668130
47.5k668130
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
answered Jun 13 at 9:49
Stephen Kitt
139k22301363
139k22301363
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in/usr;-)
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on/usr.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use/usr/home/usernamefor the home ofusername.
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not/home/$USERbut/Users/$USER
– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
 |Â
show 5 more comments
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in/usr;-)
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on/usr.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use/usr/home/usernamefor the home ofusername.
– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not/home/$USERbut/Users/$USER
– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
2
2
More intuitive when the users' directories were in
/usr ;-)– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
More intuitive when the users' directories were in
/usr ;-)– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 9:53
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
@Kusalananda when was that using Nux for 10 years never seen this
– Kiwy
Jun 13 at 10:20
2
2
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on
/usr.– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
@Kiwy early seventies, see Wikipedia’s entry on
/usr.– Stephen Kitt
Jun 13 at 10:22
3
3
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use
/usr/home/username for the home of username.– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
@Kiwy Some FreeBSD systems use
/usr/home/username for the home of username.– Kusalananda
Jun 13 at 10:38
1
1
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not
/home/$USER but /Users/$USER– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
Staying closer to the present day, a modern MacOS user's home directory is not
/home/$USER but /Users/$USER– Law29
Jun 13 at 18:18
 |Â
show 5 more comments
You can save the file (
:w) and see where it was saved. That should be the directory where you opened vim.– Al.G.
Jun 13 at 9:48
~is expanded to your home directory, so it doesn't make sense. Are you sure your $PWD is the same as your $HOME?– choroba
Jun 13 at 9:49
@choroba I made a mistake and was not aware that ~ gets expanded to home directory (i.e. /home/username). Thanks for your help
– MarkMark
Jun 13 at 13:07
1
note: it is
filenamenotfilename.extensionUnix does not have file extensions. a.us just a.. Except when the.is the first character, in this case it tellslsnot to list it (it is hidden).– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:18
5
/homeis not the home you are looking for.$HOMEis where the home is. Your home will (probably) be/home/yourname.– ctrl-alt-delor
Jun 13 at 14:20