Dot Files
Linux History: How Dot Files Became Hidden Files
Ever wondered why there are files on your Linux system, starting with a dot? The short answer: they are shortcuts. Here is the full story.
Summary
The history of hidden files
Ever wondered why there are files on your Linux system, starting with a dot? The short answer: they are shortcuts. The story begins many years ago when the first file systems were created on UNIX. To allow easy navigation, a single file with a dot (.) was added to each directory. Secondly, a double dot file (..) was added to easily move up in the directory structure. As these files had no real data in them, a quick hack was added to the ls binary.