[proposal] Include list of files created in $HOME as a control file

[Daniel Ruoso <daniel@ruoso.com>]

Hi,

This discussion has been started in debian-devel, but as I saw that a
policy change is needed, I'm bringing it to the correct list.

Proposal:
  Include a control file like "conffiles" into the debian package in a  
way the dotfiles and directories in user's home directory can be easily
related to the debian package.

Objective:
  Allowing the creation of a program (suggested name: "usersconfpurge")
that the user will run and say "I don't use icewm anymore, please remove
its configuration files from my home dir".

Why?
  This feature will give debian, IMHO, a great advance in
user-friendliness to debian as a desktop machine, and the risk involved
is very low.

Alternatives:
  If there were a policy for the names of the files created in user's
home directory, this wouldn't be necessary, because it would be possible
to define to which package it is associated, but there isn't (see the
example below).

Suggestion of the file format:
  I think this file (that could be named "userconffiles") could be a
simple list (1 file/dir per line) of the files/directories that this
program creates in the user's dir. Ex.:
---- usersconffile for package icewm ----
.icewm
---- usersconffile for package scribus ----
.scribus.rc
---- usersconffile for package solfege ----
.solfegerc1.4
---- usersconffile for package bash ----
.bashrc
.bash_profile
.bash_history
---- usersconffile for package windowmaker ----
GNUStep
---- end of example ----