Sure, hidden folders are a mistake, but less of a mistake than not adhering to standardized folder structures and just littering in people's home folders.
Oy. That surprised me. I am quite familiar with the notion of common keyboard shortcut that I can't get on my Norwegian keyboard. Command-(left/right) square bracket is very common, but at least that is usually associated with a menu item so I can assign a different shortcut. But now I learned that on a French keyboard, period is shift-semicolon!? Which makes me wonder: Do the French use the semicolon more often than the period? Oh well, once in a while it sucks not to be American. ;-)