Where app data is stored.
~/.local
~/.config
~/.var
~/.appname
Sometimes more than one place for the same program
Pick one and stop cluttering my home directory
this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
149 points (97.5% liked)
Linux
52706 readers
670 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
I have good news and bad news:
A specification already exists. https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/
good luck winning any of these refusers over https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Base_Directory#Hardcoded
Eh, things have gotten better, and there are tools that make these tools respect them.
Yea I like how a lot have moved to using .config but mozilla just moved out of there and now has a .mozilla folder outside of it.. wtf... It is insanely sad.
I have actually moved my entire "user home folder".. folders out of there just because it is so ugly and unorganized. I now use /home/user/userfolders/.. all my stuff like documents / videos etc in here
it's pretty bad. steam for example has both
~/.steam and
~/.local/share/Steam
for some reason. I'm just happy I moved to an impermanent setup for my PC, so I don't need to worry something I temporarily install is going to clutter my home directory with garbage
that .steam is a bunch of symlinks to the .local one.. which makes it even worse. they have also .steampid and .steampath.
and even worse a bunch of games are starting to add them there too.
Factorio puts game saves in ~/.factorio for some reason...
damn, of all the people you'd think those guys would actually have used the .local or .config =[
I have 73 dot files in my home directory lmao
load more comments
(3 replies)
Rewrite the entire kernel exclusively in rust!
-hehehe-
There is a separate kernel which is being written entirely in rust from scratch that might interest you. I'm not sure if this is the main one https://github.com/asterinas/asterinas but it is the first one that came up when I searched.
By the tone of your post you might just want to watch the world burn in which case I'd raise an issue in that repo saying "Rewrite in C++ for compatibility with wider variety of CPU archs" ;)
I'm of the opinion that a full rewrite in rust will eventually happen, but they need to be cautious and not risk alienating developers ala windows mobile so right now it's still done in pieces. I'm also aware that many of the devs who sharpened their teeth on the kernel C code like it as it is, resist all change, and this causes lots of arguments.
Looking at that link, I'm not liking the MPL.
And that's how WW3 started..!
I'm not sure whether this should be a "standard", but we need a Linux Distribution where the user never has to touch the command line. Such a distro would be beneficial and useful to new users, who don't want to learn about command line commands.
And also we need a good app store where users can download and install software in a reasonably safe and easy way.
I really don't understand this. I put a fairly popular Linux distro on my son's computer and never needed to touch the command line. I update it by command line only because I think it's easier.
Sure, you may run into driver scenarios or things like that from time to time, but using supported hardware would never present that issue. And Windows has just as many random "gotchas".
I try to avoid using the command line as much as possible, but it still crops up from time to time.
Back when I used windows, I would legitimately never touch the command line. I wouldn't even know how to interact with it.
We're not quite there with Linux, but we're getting closer!
I try to avoid using the command line as much as possible
Why would you do that?
I think there are some that are getting pretty close to this. Like SteamOS (although not a traditional DE) and Mint.
Ubuntu as well. I wish I could say OpenSuse...
load more comments
(1 replies)
Why do people keep saying this? If you don't want to use the command line then don't.
But there is no good reason to say people shouldn't. It's always the best way to get across what needs to be done and have the person execute it.
The fedora laptop I have been using for the past year has never needed the command line.
On my desktop I use arch. I use the command line because I know it and it makes sense.
Its sad people see it as a negative when it is really useful. But as of today you can get by without it.
It’s always the best way to get across what needs to be done and have the person execute it.
Sigh. If you want to use the command line, great. Nobody is stopping you.
For those of us who don't want to use the command line (most regular users) there should be an option not to, even in Linux.
Its sad people see it as a negative when it is really useful.
It's even sadder seeing people lose sight of their humanity when praising the command line while ignoring all of its negatives.
lose sight of their humanity
Ok this is now a stupid conversation. Really? Humanity?
Look, you can either follow a flowchart of a dozen different things to click on to get information about your thunderbolt device or type boltctl -list
Do you want me to create screen shots of every step of the way to use a gui or just type 12 characters? That is why it is useful. It is easy to explain, easy to ask someone to do it. Then they can copy and paste a response, instead of yet another screenshot.
Next thing you know you will be telling me it is against humanity to "right click". Or maybe we all should just get a Mac Book Wheel
Look, I am only advocating that it is a very useful tool. There is nothing "bad" about it, or even hard. What is the negative?
But I also said, I have been using a Fedora laptop for over a year and guess what? I never needed the command line. Not once.
load more comments
(2 replies)
While all areas could benefit in terms of stability and ease of development from standadization, the whole system and each area would suffer in terms of creativity. There needs to be a balance. However, if I had to choose one thing, I'd say the package management. At the moment we have deb, rpm, pacman, flatpak, snap (the latter probably should not be considered as the server side is proprietary) and more from some niche distros. This makes is very difficult for small developers to offer their work to all/most users. Otherwise, I think it is a blessing having so many DEs, APIs, etc.
Each monitor should have its own framebuffer device rather than only one app controlling all monitors at any time and needing each app to implement its own multi-monitor support. I know fbdev is an inefficient, un-accelerated wrapper of the DRI, but it's so easy to use!
Want to draw something on a particular monitor? Write to its framebuffer file. Want to run multiple apps on multiple screens without needing your DE to launch everything? Give each app write access to a single fbdev. Want multi-seat support without needing multiple GPUs? Same thing.
Right now, each GPU only gets 1 fbdev and it has the resolution of the smallest monitor plugged into that GPU. Its contents are then mirrored to every monitor, even though they all have their own framebuffers on a hardware level.
So this is why multi monitor support has been a never ending hot mess?!
Yes and no. It would solve some problems, but because it has no (non-hacky) graphics acceleration, most DEs wouldn't use it anyway. The biggest benefit would be from not having to use a DE in some circumstances where it's currently required.
This right here is why i moved to a single display setup.
interoperability > homogeneity
interoperability == API standardization == API homogeneity
standardization != monopolization
Manuals or notifications written with lay people in mind, not experts.
Standardizing package management? Imagine everyone being stuck with .rpm
view more: next ›