linux-kernel - Re: Heads-up: Linux make menuconfig .config vs. XDG_CONFIG_HOME ~/.config/ clash

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Message-ID: <20110603143824.GA3138@elliptictech.com>
Date:	Fri, 3 Jun 2011 10:38:24 -0400
From:	Nick Bowler <nbowler@...iptictech.com>
To:	Andreas Mohr <andi@...as.de>
Cc:	linux-kbuild@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	Roman Zippel <zippel@...ux-m68k.org>,
	Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz>, Waldo Bastian <bastian@....org>,
	Ryan Lortie <desrt@...rt.ca>,
	Lennart Poettering <lennart@...ttering.net>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Subject: Re: Heads-up: Linux make menuconfig .config vs. XDG_CONFIG_HOME
 ~/.config/ clash - perhaps resolve it while 3.0 appears?

On 2011-06-02 20:24 +0200, Andreas Mohr wrote:
> "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user
> specific configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is
> either not set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be
> used."
[...]
> It may thus be strongly advisable to rename the default name of the
> make menuconfig kernel .config file (perhaps .config_lx / .config_linux ?)
> to completely sidestep such a (mostly user-triggered)
> problematic clash in future.

If a program can't create its config directory or file(s), presumably it
will display an error message to that effect and the user can correct the
problem: after all, this scenario only occurs when the user puts a
kernel .config file in their home directory.  I imagine that a user
which is capable of doing such a thing is also capable of deleting
files.

Furthermore, Once the ~/.config directory has been created (by running
any program that does so), this problem cannot occur.

There are many other reasons that a program might fail to access its
configuration data.  I suspect that "no space remaining" or "read-only
filesystem" are more likely than "oops, I managed to put a .config file
in my home directory before running a single program that created
~/.config/".

Administrators can prevent hapless users from accidentally putting a
.config file in their home directory by creating a .config directory by
default.  Distros could help here by putting an empty .config directory
in /etc/skel.

Renaming the .config file is obviously going to cause a lot of pain, and
there seems to be very little gain.

Cheers,
-- 
Nick Bowler, Elliptic Technologies (http://www.elliptictech.com/)
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