Mac OS X Server 1.x: Deletes Files With "#" as the First Character

This is correct. There is a daily cron script (/etc/daily) that will delete any file with the following names that have not been accessed in the last three days.

• the name starts with hash (#)
• the name starts with a comma (,)
• the name starts with dot-hash (.#)
• the name is "a.out"
• the name ends in ".core"
• the name ends in ".CKP"
• the name ends in ".emacs_<number>"

                             
The daily script is part of the BSD distribution and has not been modified by Apple. The search occurs across all local disks so files on HFS Plus volumes that meet the above criteria will also be deleted.

With Mac OS X 10.x and Mac OS X Server 10.x, the daily script has been updated so that this does not occur.