I have read through https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html and to me the standards seem sensible. Most of it is the default of most if not all modern desktop programs anyway.
Therefore I would like to completely comply with them in this policy. This involves, but is not limited to, putting the live dir in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR. Bercot warned me in https://skarnet.org/lists/supervision/3114.html that this might be dangerous since it could be removed to quickly upon logout.
From the start on, I planned to have all the XDG_* env's managed by the s6-rc system service which sets up the user supervision tree. This means setting the env's and, in the case of XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, creating and removing the directory on demand. By implementing this directly in the service with correct dependencies, this becomes completely safe and reliable.
Another suggestion was to delegate the creation and removal of XDG_RUNTIME_DIR to the login monitoring program (which will most likely be Turnstile), see https://skarnet.org/lists/supervision/3117.html. I do not think this is the best idea. Instead, I want to push as much basic functionality as possible to the s6/s6-rc services, for the following reasons:
1) s6/s6-rc is simple, fast and reliable2) this allows for an easier future substitution of external programs used (e.g. substituting Turnstile for an alternative)
3) This allows for more fine grained control by the sysadmins/distribution contributors.
4) The service setting up and supervising the user tree is perfectly suited for this, my current, working implementation of creating and deleting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR containing the live dir consists of two lines of execline
Do you all have any objections/see any issues with the XDG Base Directory Specification and adhering to them?
Do you see any issues with my idea of how to handle the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR? Any input is welcome! Paul
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