Re: [Usability]The messy world of applications files

[Taco Witte <T C Witte phys uu nl>]

S. Boucher heeft geschreven:
[snap]
> There are just too many files for too many applications, and it is
> hard to distinguish what each file for each application does if you
> are not the application author.
I completely agree with you. I think these sorts of things should really 
be a part of the LSB.

> Ideally, all applications should follow a certain amount of structure. 
> e.g.:
>
>     ~/app/data/<app-name>/...
>     ~/app/customisation/<ap-name>/...
>     ~/app/tmp/<app-name>/...
I would suggest something like this:

     ~/config/<app-name>/...
For all settings, preferences (things that you can miss).

     ~/tmp/<app-name>/...
For all caches (with possibility of linking it to /tmp/<user-name>). 
Possibly ~/.tmp (it's not something users have to deal with, I guess).

     ~/data/<app-name>/...
Like you suggested.

The names could be different ('My Settings', 'Temporary Data', 'My 
Documents'?)

> data: This would be things like list of contacts, mail archives, etc.
> Essentially, Information that a user will not tolerate loosing.
>
> customisation: preferences for window manager, etc.  Essentially,
> information that a user can lose and not feel an urge to go jump off
> of a building.
>
> tmp: things like caches.
>
> Then, the day I decide to reinstall my system, or move to a new one
> I'd just need to backup ~/app/data/... along with my other personal
> files.
>
> Currently, it is a mess, and there is a simple solution to this
> mess...  I would hope that the gnome project would show the way.
I second that.

With regards,
Taco