Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Eli Zaretskii]

Eric,

This change must be documented in NEWS.  I also think we should have
discussed such a significant change in behavior before pushing the
commit.

Thanks.

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Amin Bandali]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

> Eric,
>
> This change must be documented in NEWS.  I also think we should have
> discussed such a significant change in behavior before pushing the
> commit.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

Seconded.  Some comments about d68ed15:

- It hard-codes ~/.config, whereas the XDG Base Directory specification
  specifies that $XDG_CONFIG_HOME should be consulted and if it’s not
  set or if it’s empty then fall back to ~/.config.  If we are doing
  this, let’s try to do it properly from the start :)

- The convention for programs adhering to the spec is to keep their
  files in a subdirectory of $XDG_CONFIG_HOME named after the program
  itself.  For instance, i3 would use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3 and msmtp
  would use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/msmtp.  So, I think it would be best for
  Emacs to use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs instead of the proposed
  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs.d, and put all emacs-related things in it.  In
  short, the paths would look like:

  - ~/.emacs -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacsrc
  - ~/.emacs.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacs.el
  - ~/.emacs.d/init.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/init.el

  I also suggest adjusting the custom-file examples to the following
  respectively:

  - $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/custom-21.el
  - $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/custom-22.el
  - $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/custom.el

The specification is available from [1], and the ArchWiki page [2]
provides a helpful summary, as well as a long list of programs
supporting the spec and links to their implementation commits.

[1]: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.8.html
[2]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/XDG_Base_Directory

Thanks for working on this.

-amin

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Stefan Monnier]

>   - ~/.emacs -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacsrc
>   - ~/.emacs.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacs.el
>   - ~/.emacs.d/init.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/init.el

The first two don't make sense: those who use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/
should just use init.el.  There's no need for some kind of backward
compatibility here.


        Stefan

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
> Date: Sun, 26 May 2019 09:51:27 -0400
> 
> >   - ~/.emacs -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacsrc
> >   - ~/.emacs.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacs.el
> >   - ~/.emacs.d/init.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/init.el
> 
> The first two don't make sense: those who use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/
> should just use init.el.  There's no need for some kind of backward
> compatibility here.

If enough people raise valid objections, and Eric doesn't respond, I
will revert the changeset.

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Amin Bandali]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>>   - ~/.emacs -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacsrc
>>   - ~/.emacs.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/emacs.el
>>   - ~/.emacs.d/init.el -> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/init.el
>
> The first two don't make sense: those who use $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/
> should just use init.el.  There's no need for some kind of backward
> compatibility here.
>
>

Thinking more about this, I agree.  It makes much more sense to only
look for init.el inside $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/ since we’ll already have
a directory structure to organize things (including the init file) in,
and there’s no need to look for the first two cases for the new location
anymore.

>
>         Stefan
>
>
>

Best,
amin

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Stefan Monnier]

> -;;; startup.el --- process Emacs shell arguments  -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
> +;; startup.el --- process Emacs shell arguments  -*- lexical-binding: t -*-

This is an error, it should be 3 semi-colons.

> +(defun find-init-path (fn)
> +  "Look in ~/.config/FOO or ~/.FOO for the dotfile or dot directory FOO.
> +It is expected that the output will undergo ~ expansion.  Implements the
> +XDG convention for dotfiles."
> +  (let* ((xdg-path (concat "~" init-file-user "/.config/" fn))
> +        (oldstyle-path (concat "~" init-file-user "/." fn))
> +        (found-path (if (file-exists-p xdg-path) xdg-path oldstyle-path)))
> +    found-path))

AFAICT this is only used during startup and hence shouldn't have such
an "official sounding" name.  It could/should use a "startup--" prefix,
for example.

Furthermore it shouldn't say "path" but "filename" to follow our
naming convention.


        Stefan

Re: [Emacs-diffs] master d68ed15: Implement and document XDG-style startup files under ~/.config.

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
> Date: Sun, 26 May 2019 18:40:10 -0400
> Cc: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@thyrsus.com>
> 
> > -;;; startup.el --- process Emacs shell arguments  -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
> > +;; startup.el --- process Emacs shell arguments  -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
> 
> This is an error, it should be 3 semi-colons.
> 
> > +(defun find-init-path (fn)
> > +  "Look in ~/.config/FOO or ~/.FOO for the dotfile or dot directory FOO.
> > +It is expected that the output will undergo ~ expansion.  Implements the
> > +XDG convention for dotfiles."
> > +  (let* ((xdg-path (concat "~" init-file-user "/.config/" fn))
> > +        (oldstyle-path (concat "~" init-file-user "/." fn))
> > +        (found-path (if (file-exists-p xdg-path) xdg-path oldstyle-path)))
> > +    found-path))
> 
> AFAICT this is only used during startup and hence shouldn't have such
> an "official sounding" name.  It could/should use a "startup--" prefix,
> for example.
> 
> Furthermore it shouldn't say "path" but "filename" to follow our
> naming convention.

No response in a week.

Would someone like to suggest changes to fix the problems in this
commit?  If so, please show the proposed changes, and let's discuss
them.  Failing that, I will revert that commit in a couple of days.