Re: /home/user/var

[Stefan Karrmann <sk@mathematik.uni-ulm.de>]

Am Thu, May 25, 2000 at 06:25:52PM +0200 schrieb Norbert Nemec:
> Doesn't look like that would make the files any easier to handle. The first
> idea was to clean up the home-directory. Now that translator just adds even
> more file names. In my experience, having one piece of information
> accessible in two different places may be useful, but it always adds a
> little bit to confusion. (That's a danger of translators in general, I
> think.)

The translator provides backward compatibility for programs that still
use ~/.foo. If these programs disappear you can forget about it and use
the new standard.

> With symbolic links, you usually can make out where the file is originated.
> With dozens of different translators spread throughout the filesystem, it
> may become a major task to get an idea of the filesystem layout on a system.

You are right. But in this case you have to check your files ~/.foo regulary
for new ones which should be moved and symlinked. The translator does this
for you on the fly.

> On Tue, May 23, 2000 at 09:19:12AM +0200, Stefan Karrmann wrote:
> > Create a translator, e.g. config-files, that sits on the home directory of a user
> > (if he installed it) and identifies files .foorc with ~/etc/foorc or something the
> > user likes.
> > 
> > E.g. settrans ~ config-files --var=~/var --etc=~/etc
> >   or settrans ~ config-files --etc=~/.etc
> > 
> > That's translators are invented for.

-- 
Stefan Karrmann