[CentOS] (Global/Any) setting for "show hidden files?"

Is there a setting somewhere in the "global" arena of CentOS that
controls whether or not "hidden" (.prefixed) files are displayed in
file lists?

I've noticed that, at home, primarily, when I use any file access
dialogue window, particularly in OOo and Evolution, all my "hidden"
files are shown along with the "normal" ones.  (This used to be true
in SeaMonkey also, but there's a way to configure that out and I've
activated that, or I'd be seeing them there, too.)

I made mention of this on the OOo users list and it was suggested that
there might be a "higher" level control involved, but they didn't know
what.

I occasionally turn on the "View hidden files" option in nautilus, but
I always return it to the default (off) setting because, in general, I
neither want nor need to see them, which is at least one of the main
reasons why _I_ "hide" them, and many are hidden by default.

I thought that it might be something to do with installing the 2.4.1
version of OOo with the nautilus option turned on, which I don't know
whether I did or not, but that wouldn't affect Evolution as well.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

mhr