Finder on your Mac by default does not show hidden files, and the console has vi, which lots of people find awkward to use.
There is an easy trick to open a hidden file like ~/.bash_profile (for instance to add an alias) with a visual text editor.
Just execute this in your terminal:
- Always with TextEdit
open -e ~/.bash_profile - For the default text editor (usually TextEdit)
open -t ~/.bash_profile - For a specific text editor (in this cast TextWrangler)
open -b com.barebones.textwrangler ~/.bash_profile
The man open(1) page has more information on the parameters you can pass to open.
–jeroen
PS: You can teach Finder to Quickly show and hide hidden files | Finder, Terminal | Mac OS X Tips.
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 