Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 2 Jun 2011 20:24:31 +0200 | From | Andreas Mohr <> | Subject | Heads-up: Linux make menuconfig .config vs. XDG_CONFIG_HOME ~/.config/ clash - perhaps resolve it while 3.0 appears? |
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Hello all,
I just discovered a Linux kernel make menuconfig .config file accidentally situated in the home directory of a shell account (simply scp:d over without much thought, thus directly ending up in main user home on that machine, something which can happen quite easily for a number of other reasons as well). I then realized the potentially fatal ramifications of this.
XXXXXX:/tmp$ touch mytest XXXXXX:/tmp$ mkdir mytest mkdir: cannot create directory `mytest': File exists
XDG Base Directory Specification http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html says:
"$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." And that mechanism is exactly what a ton of Linux userspace apps (and hopefully many more in future) are already making use of to store their configuration data in a manner that's more friendly to user home directories.
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.
And (I cannot help but think of this) now that lx 3.0 is in -rc this might still be an especially appropriate moment to do it ;) (one would have to think of potential compatibility issues though)
Thanks for listening,
Andreas Mohr
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