# I am curious about ~/.ansible vs ~/ansible - why was that done?

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/i-am-curious-about-ansible-vs-ansible-why-was-that-done/37021>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [August 23, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/i-am-curious-about-ansible-vs-ansible-why-was-that-done/37021 "2022-08-23T04:23:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jeff\_Silverman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/258eb7/32.png) [@Jeff\_Silverman](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jeff_Silverman)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/i-am-curious-about-ansible-vs-ansible-why-was-that-done/37021/1 "2022-08-23T04:23:39Z")

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In [Storing and finding roles](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_reuse_roles.html#role-directory-structure) and elsewhere, it says that one of the places ansible looks for .yml files is ~/.ansible/roles . Why .ansible, which is hidden, and not ansible, which is not hidden? Of course, I can change it easily by changing the ansible.cfg file or setting a value in the envar [DEFAULT\_MODULE\_PATH](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/reference_appendices/config.html#default-module-path). That’s not my question. My curiosity is piqued: why did the ansible designers elect to use a hidden directory? They were/are very smart people, so they must have had a good reason, what was it?

Thank you

Jeff Silverman

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**Author:** ![Nico\_Kadel-Garcia](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/nico_kadel-garcia/32/9998_2.png) [@Nico\_Kadel-Garcia](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Nico_Kadel-Garcia)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:56am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/i-am-curious-about-ansible-vs-ansible-why-was-that-done/37021/2 "2022-08-23T07:56:29Z")

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It's quite commonplace to do. .bashrc,.ssh, .local, .bin, and many  
other local directories are in these kind of subdirectories that can  
be written or administered by the user but are typically used for  
individual configuration information and are relatively stable.

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**Author:** ![vbotka](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/vbotka/32/359_2.png) [@vbotka](https://forum.ansible.com/u/vbotka)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 9:22am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/i-am-curious-about-ansible-vs-ansible-why-was-that-done/37021/3 "2022-08-23T09:22:31Z")

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The main reason is that this directory keeps configuration files. The  
justification for having hidden files is that if you don't see them,  
you are less likely to damage them.

But, generally, you're right. The concept of a hidden file was an  
unintended consequence. It was certainly a mistake.  
[https://linux-audit.com/linux-history-how-dot-files-became-hidden-files/](https://linux-audit.com/linux-history-how-dot-files-became-hidden-files/)