[DerekJ]

There are a few things I've never been able to figure out with OS X. Why does itunes put songs into a random folder inside documents by default, instead of into the music folder? Why does each user have a library folder along with their being a master library folder too. Sometimes I think some applications I download should be putting their files in the master "application support" folder inside of the library instead of my local user "application support" folder. Is this something they had to do, due to unix? Because I find this highly unintuitive. When i open up Macintosh HD there is a folder called resources with nothing in it save two .rtf's, but I can't delete it, what is this file and why can't I delete it? I know this sounds unorganized and quite stupid but I've been confused about these things for a long time and am just curious as to why they're there and what they are. Thank you in advance for any replies.

[Anomalous]

Originally posted by DerekJ:
There are a few things I've never been able to figure out with OS X. Why does itunes put songs into a random folder inside documents by default, instead of into the music folder? Why does each user have a library folder along with their being a master library folder too. Sometimes I think some applications I download should be putting their files in the master "application support" folder inside of the library instead of my local user "application support" folder. Is this something they had to do, due to unix? Because I find this highly unintuitive. When i open up Macintosh HD there is a folder called resources with nothing in it save two .rtf's, but I can't delete it, what is this file and why can't I delete it? I know this sounds unorganized and quite stupid but I've been confused about these things for a long time and am just curious as to why they're there and what they are. Thank you in advance for any replies.

Starting with iTunes 3, it does use the Music folder by default, and it can even move your existing library if it is stored somewhere else.

Individual Library folders seem intuitive to me. Preferences and add-ons that apply to only one user can be safely stored in that user's folder without affecting other users. However, there is still a global folder for things that should affect all users.

I'm not sure where the Resources folder comes from, but you should be able to get rid of it by using the "sudo rm" command in the terminal. There are also a variety of freeware/shareware utilities for deleting stubborn files, but I have never bothered with them because I am comfortable with the command line.

[IamBob]

Why does itunes put songs into a random folder inside documents by default, instead of into the music folder?

I'm assuming this is an OS9-ism that hasn't been corrected for one reason or another - until v3, apparently.

Why does each user have a library folder along with their being a master library folder too.

/Library is user-agnostic. ~/Library is user-specific.

Sometimes I think some applications I download should be putting their files in the master "application support" folder inside of the library instead of my local user "application support" folder.

I've only run across few apps that put files in TheWrongPlace�. Applications should put files in ~/Library if they're user-specific and /Library if they can be of use to anyone on the system.

Is this something they had to do, due to unix? Because I find this highly unintuitive.

If you think of it exactly like I said, it's not unintuitive. user-agnostic (useful for everyone) and user-specific (useful for you only)..

When i open up Macintosh HD there is a folder called resources with nothing in it save two .rtf's, but I can't delete it, what is this file and why can't I delete it?

I'm not sure what it is but if you want, you can delete it. Assuming you have 10.2 and that you're an admin..

Select the folder in Finder, Get Info, expand Ownership and Permissions, click the lock to gain access and change the owner to you.

I know this sounds unorganized and quite stupid but I've been confused about these things for a long time and am just curious as to why they're there and what they are.

Unorganized, sure, stupid, not quite. I remember being in the same boat. I'm just glad someone didn't rock it while I was still in it - instead, I got given paddles.