[fhs-discuss] Split home directory for each user into two parts

[Randy Kramer]

On Friday 06 May 2011 12:34:30 pm Jeff Licquia wrote:
> On 05/06/2011 12:32 PM, Randy Kramer wrote:
> > Hmm, should I file a bug in bugzilla requesting a reference to XDG
> > in the /home section?
> Good idea (assuming someone didn't beat you to it; do a quick search
> first).

I decided to try drafting something here before creating a bug report  
(or adding something to bug 762).

Here is what the current /home section in FHS says.

<quote>
/home : User home directories (optional)

Purpose

/home is a fairly standard concept, but it is clearly a site-specific 
filesystem. [9] The setup will differ from host to host. Therefore, no 
program should rely on this location. [10] 

Requirements

User specific configuration files for applications are stored in the 
user's home directory in a file that starts with the '.' character 
(a "dot file"). If an application needs to create more than one dot 
file then they should be placed in a subdirectory with a name starting 
with a '.' character, (a "dot directory"). In this case the 
configuration files should not start with the '.' character. [11]
</quote>

Here is some wording I'd propose to add to that section (under 
Requirements, I believe):

<proposed wording>
See also the XDG Base Directory Specification (at 
http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html), 
which specifies directories for the separate storage of:

   * user-specific data files ($XDG_DATA_HOME and $XDG_DATA_HOME)
   * user-specific configuration files ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME and 
$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS)
   * user-specific non-essential (cached) data ($XDG_CACHE_HOME)
   * user-specific runtime files ($XDG_RUNTIME_DIR)

Although the XDG Base Directory Specification is specifically for GUI 
programs, it may be a reasonable target for all *nix programs to evolve 
towards.
</proposed wording>

<digression>
I'm a little surprised (well, that's not the right word, because I have 
read this section before, although it's been a few years) about how 
little it says about the purpose of /home ("/home is a fairly standard 
concept"), and the idea that "no program should rely on this 
location"--it seems many programs do.

I'm wondering if the section is deserving of a more general revision?
</digression>

Randy Kramer