[kde-linux] upgrading to KDE 4.2.4

[Duncan]

Anne Wilson posted on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:16:23 +0000 as excerpted:

> On Friday 04 December 2009 13:38:19 Gmail wrote:

[In the context of backups]

>> A thing to wish for would be that KDE apps had a better separation of
>> data/documents a user creates and other support files. Then it had been
>> easy to just have data in a separate partition that could
>>  be  mounted in different systems and used by different applications.
>>  As standard not with manual work as now.
>> Now we have all data in a /local and own apps/script in /usr/local.
>> Always there whatever system we install or boot.
>> 
> I'm sorry - you have totally lost me.  /home/you contains your personal
> settings and data.  That's all.  And none of your data is elsewhere
> unless you have very deliberately caused it to be so .  How you come to
> have data scattered around your system is a puzzle that only you can
> answer.

If I'm reading it right, what gmail is wishing for is that the config be 
separate from other user data, just as Linux is very good about keeping 
executables/libraries, system config, and user data (including config) 
all separate.

IOW, have .kde(4)/share *NOT* contain actual emails, for instance, tho 
the kmail config would be there.  The mail itself would be in say ~/.mail 
or ~/.data/mail or some such.

Similarly with IRC/IM messages/logs/whatever, probably konqueror 
bookmarks, etc.  They should be stored in some ~/(.)data/ subdir, 
according to their function/owning-app, not under ~/.kde/share, along 
with the config.

Actually, come to think of it, MS does sort of do that -- they split user 
data from config, with MyDocuments (grr... why not just call it 
documents? the "my" prefix always grated on me!) separate from the config 
in the registry and program dirs, they just don't properly separate 
config from programs, or make it easy to access the config when it is 
separate (in the registry).  So the contrast is between *ix which 
separates executables and data/config, and MS which separates
executables/config and data, but neither one keep all three separate.  

Then he says as standard not manually, as now, and (if I'm reading it 
correctly) cites his current organization with /local for the data and 
/usr/local for config, scripts, etc.  That's at the system level, 
certainly, but what he's saying is that he'd like the same sort of split 
between config and actual data, automatically, at the user level.

FWIW I too have wished for that, and have it setup that way here, 
manually.  But it'd be very nice if /someone/, and that someone might as 
well be kde, took the lead, and started doing the same with the user's 
config and data in /home, by default.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman