Re: XDG and Freedesktop (was: Re: Program to dole out jpg's to subdirctories, card-dealing style.)

On Mon, 30 Jun 2025 18:50:40 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:

In comp.os.linux.misc, Lawrence D'Oliveiro  <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

>
The XDG spec aims to keep this clutter under control.

 
Does it? Or does it just create a new closet to sweep them into?

It actually creates a closet to pack things into, whereas before all those
files were lying loose around the floor of your bedroom (aka $HOME). It
actually helps to clean up your room.

Most of the Linux distros around already contain those libraries. The
whole freedesktop.org group has widespread support among *nixes.
They're not some "fringe" group as you might think.

 
Yeah, but I run plenty of programs that don't use those libraries and
are unlikely to do so.

Many projects have converted. E.g Blender did this some years ago.
Inkscape and GIMP do too. I think newer ones just do it as a matter of
course.

Not all the world is Linux, and tools like xfig predate Linux.

Freedesktop specs aren’t supposed to be Linux-specific.

Also XDG has a very limited understanding of how people may organize
files. I don't have a "templates" directory, I'm not even sure what I'd
put in one.

There are people accustomed to, shall we say, more “object-oriented” ways
of doing things. Instead of opening an “Untitled” document in the app, and
then having to select the name and place to save it with/in for the first
time, using a template lets you start with a document already named and
placed correctly (and with some suitable initial settings), which you then
open in the app to insert the actual content.

I don't have a "music" directory, and I don't need one.

Neither do I, technically. The stuff I download is kept separate from the
stuff I create myself.

Here are the directories I want to use to organize things:

Suit yourself. Free Software is all about choice.