Re: (REPOST) user-specific package configuration information

[Theodore Tso <tytso@mit.edu>]

On Wed, Jul 04, 2001 at 11:11:56AM -0700, sandy pond wrote:
> 
> I really don't expect the present scheme to last forever.  
> Someday the users home directory will be split from the 
> location where user-specific configuration information is 
> stored.  The sooner this is done the easier it will be.  
> Ultimately, this may be the best justification for doing 
> this now when there is a good opportunity.
> 

Personally, I really doubt that.  Existing practice is that "dot
files" don't show up in directory listings, either via /bin/ls or via
graphical file managers.  So they don't really "clutter" the home
directory.  And by being in the user's home directory, they're easy
for programs to find, and easy for system administrators to back up.
On top of that, there is the entrenched history to consider.  So I
believe the likelihood of this changing in the near future is small. 

The question you raise is much like one of whether individual files
should be in /etc, or in directories.  i.e., /etc/exim.conf,
vs. /etc/exim/exim.conf.  To say that packages's should *always* be in
a directory, even when they have a single rc file, is not necessarily
going to be viewed as reasonable.  Many people will seriously dislike
sucuh an arrangement.  They will point out, correctly, that the
difference between having a single file ~/.foorc and having a deep
structure such as ~/.foo/foorc doesn't reduce the directory listing of
"ls -a" much, and needless makes the directory hierarchy more complex.

So the issue is much more complicated than you make it out to be....

						- Ted