Question about interpretation of XDG_DATA_DIRS

[Jan D.]

>>
>> So is it the intention of the specification that packages like Gtk+
>> shall search $datadir or is it just /usr/local/share:/usr/share?
>
> No, that is not the intention. The intention is to have a fully 
> defined search
> path that is shared by all packages that support the standard. Since 
> $datadir
> will depend from package to package including it would result in 
> different
> packages using different search paths.

Well, that is the situation today, and what is desired if you install 
different versions of the same package, but with different $prefix.

>
>> Personally I would want the default for XDG_CONFIG_DIRS to be
>> $datadir:/usr/local/share:/usr/share.  Without that, installing
>> different versions with different $prefix becomes impossible.
>
> You could set XDG_CONFIG_DIRS to point to the $prefix that you use, 
> couldn't
> you?

Yes, but I fail to see the benefit for a user.  A situation that worked 
OK previously now requires the setting of an environment variable.  Oh, 
well.

IMHO, a package should search $datadir first.  If a shared path is 
wanted, then simply do not install anything in $datadir, and pick up 
files from /usr/local/share:/usr/share.

Thanks for the answer,

	Jan D.