Hi Luigi, > >(3) Often, dot files are shared between > > multiple packages. Examples include .newsrc, .mime.types, and so on. > > > mainly the third point is really strong, even more than the second. > Modern sysetm will have more and more applications, exspecially isf > they are used interactivelly by users, and if every application has > to have its own .<config file> inside of the users home, and there is no > way to share the most of them, it's going to be > very difficoult and disordered situation for sysadmins and users too >
I think your point is well taken. But I also think that future integrated programs that need to share lots of configuration information will provide their own mechanism. The GNOME GConf is an example of this movement and also goes to highlight the inadequacy of the present scheme. However, aside from this, I believe that Ted's 3rd point can easily be worked around with several possible alternative, provided of course, there is adequate interest in curing the present (and still growing) mess. For information purposes, my home directory currently contains 39 file and directory entries for user-specific configuration information and is growing daily. Best Regards, Keith Adamson Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping! http://www.shopping.altavista.com
