<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Rodney Dawes wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:1231628644.1582.1.camel@miso" type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On Sat, 2009-01-10 at 22:09 +0100, Dieter Plaetinck wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">Hi all, at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.6.html">http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.6.html</a> it is explained that $XDG_DATA_{HOME,DIRS} is for "(user specific) data files" and $XDG_CONFIG_{HOME,DIRS} for "(user specific) configuration files". However, it is not exactly explained what each mean. Specifically, afaik everything that goes into $XDG_CONFIG_HOME should be controlled by the user himself, eg any update of files in this directory is the result of: - the user updating the file himself manually. - the file being updated because the user changed one or more settings in a GUI panel. Eg: Isn't it wrong for software to update files in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (and by extension $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS) around the users back? I've seen many programs who store things like "last window position", "last 10 opened items" etc in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME. I don't think this is what $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is for (I think this belongs in the user data category), but then again, I couldn't find this being defined in the spec. Do you agree with this point of view? If so, I would be happy to contribute an updated version of the spec based on the above wordings. </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> If I resize my app's window to be more suitable for my uses, where should that configuration be saved then? It is configuration data, though all configuration data may not necessarily be what you expect it to be. </pre> </blockquote> It is not *user configuration*.  Your program comes up with that by itself, your user probably doesn't even know about this. Imho, the best match is "user specific non-essential data files", hence $XDG_CACHE_HOME. I hereby propose a draft of an updated version of the spec: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://users.edpnet.be/dieter/basedir-spec-0.7-PROPOSAL.html">http://users.edpnet.be/dieter/basedir-spec-0.7-PROPOSAL.html</a> What I did is just add a section "examples" which describes a bit more in detail what belongs where and gives some practical examples. It's based on what I could find in previous posts on this mailing list and -obviously - largely on my own interpretation, so I would like to hear opinions about this and maybe start a discussion. Either way, I think the current spec is a bit too unclear and could really use some practical examples as guidance for application developers. Dieter </body> </html>