Change user config path to match system-wide directory structure

[etircopyh]

[kcat]

The system-wide directories are in XDG_CONFIG_DIRS (or /etc/xdg) don't use the openal sub-directory. The /etc/openal/alsoft.conf config is legacy (along with $HOME/.alsoftrc), and it only uses a sub-directory to avoid dumping directly in /etc.

I don't know about this. Normally it's supposed to be $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/appname/files. But OpenAL isn't an app, it's a library used by multiple apps. Though even if libraries use a sub-directory like that, since there's only one config file, it doesn't seem necessary. Other apps that only have a single config file don't seem to use a sub-directory: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kdeveloprc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/glade.conf, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pavucontrol.ini, etc.

Anyone else have any input on this?

[etircopyh]

The system-wide directories are in XDG_CONFIG_DIRS (or /etc/xdg)

The existence of /etc/xdg always strikes me strange. Why have another sub-directory in /etc while /etc in itself is like system-wide ~/.config. Maybe they didn't want to mix it up with stuff like fstab and hosts (which is anyway kinda config stuff), idk. But it is what it is, nevermind my babbling.

Though even if libraries use a sub-directory like that, since there's only one config file, it doesn't seem necessary.

Yes, necessary is a strong word, I guess. It's a matter of preference but I think something like ~/.config/{app|lib}name/config or ~/.config/{app|lib}name/{app|lib}name.conf looks definitely cleaner. Simple example is ls or graphic file manager sorting all the files by alphabet (dirs first, default). And you're going through list of directories and thinking "Hmm, where's my config" with it being sorted after dirs. (Yeah, I know, literally first thought to come to mind)

Other apps that only have a single config file don't seem to use a sub-directory: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kdeveloprc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/glade.conf, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pavucontrol.ini, etc.

Yeah, I don't know what the KDE's apps deal. When I use Plasma it's basically a dump in ~/.config. I guess they've been confused about whether to create a separate dir for every single KDE app or to make something like ~/.config/kde-applications and just drop it there. So, perhaps they decided not to bother ¯_(ツ)_/¯

As for other software, I guess it's just there and all. At some point somebody will create an issue/PR about it (if not already) and it will probably change. pavucontrol-qt for example has it in the separate directory.