Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

trusktr · 2010-06-21 17:37:07

the other night during system upgrade pacman made a pacnew file for /etc/xdg/libdesktop-agnostic/desktop-agnostic.ini so i was just curious as to what xdg is and if the pacnew setting should be used:

Here's the difference between the files:

Old:

config = keyfile

pacnew:

config = gconf

I've opted to keep keyfile. Should i use gconf instead? I have no idea what this even does though.

trusktr · 2010-06-21 17:45:50

I don't know if it's just me, but after applying the new setting, then restarting system, google chrome seems to load up slower and it also got an error loading my profile.

Restored the old setting, rebooted, and now chrome loaded up fast. Don't know if it's coincidental, but it coincides with the setting change.

Peanut · 2010-06-21 22:38:34

XDG stands for X Development Group, which was the old name of FreeDesktop.org:

freedesktop.org wrote:

Freedesktop.org is open source / open discussion software projects working on interoperability and shared technology for X Window System desktops. The most famous X desktops are GNOME and KDE, but developers working on any Linux/UNIX GUI technology are welcome to participate.

I believe /etc/xdg/ is the system-wide equivalent of ~/.config/, in other words a place to define default configuration files for applications that comply with the freedesktop standards.

If you have problems using Gconf, this might be because you're not running the gconf daemon. (This is normal if you're not running Gnome). If this is the case, you should probably just keep the old configuration. The "correct" way of doing this, would be to copy /etc/xdg/libdesktop-agnostic/desktop-agnostic.ini to ~/.config/libdesktop-agnostic/desktop-agnostic.ini, and replacing the old config file with the pacnew to let pacman handle the system-wide configs.

trusktr · 2010-06-22 19:20:29

Oh ok got it. So anything in the ~/.config will take precedence over the etc/xdg stuff.

I actually AM using gnome, but i don't have gconf as a deamon and i also haven't read anything anywhere yet that i need to add it as a deamon. All the settings that i see in Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) are already implemented without having to run the daemon, so what benefit would running it have?

Also, if i leave the etc/xdg setting alone, how could make it so that i don't have to edit the ~/.config version of the setting for each and every single user?
hmmmmm I think maybe using an include file might work?

Or is there a template for new users' ~/.config/libdesktop-agnostic/desktop-agnostic.ini files somewhere?

Thanks peanut!

Peanut · 2010-06-23 02:32:54

trusktr wrote:

I actually AM using gnome, but i don't have gconf as a deamon and i also haven't read anything anywhere yet that i need to add it as a deamon.

Gconfd is a per-user daemon that is automatically started when it's needed, so if you're running Gnome my guess is that you've already installed it, and use it without even noticing. This command should reveal whether or not the daemon is running:

ps -ef | grep gconfd

trusktr wrote:

All the settings that i see in Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) are already implemented without having to run the daemon, so what benefit would running it have?

Wikipedia wrote:

GConf is a system used by the GNOME desktop environment for storing configuration settings for the desktop and applications. Changes to this system are controlled by GConfd, a daemon. GConfd watches out for changes to the database, and when they are changed, it applies the new settings to applications using it.

Also, if i leave the etc/xdg setting alone, how could make it so that i don't have to edit the ~/.config version of the setting for each and every single user?

Aha, if you're using a multi-user system, then I suppose editing the /etc/xdg/ file is the best approach after all... Feel free to ignore the .pacnew, and continue using the old configuration file

I still wonder why you're having problems using Gconf as the backend though, since all your other applications (Gnome) seem to work fine with it.

abraham10 · 2010-06-23 03:33:16

I believe that gconf is the tool you use to modify gdm...

sand_man · 2010-06-23 03:36:53

abraham10 wrote:

I believe that gconf is the tool you use to modify gdm...

gconf is a tool used to modify the settings of many applications.

trusktr · 2010-06-23 07:25:54

Yeah i have gconfd-2 running already. I guess i'll just leave my old settings in place Thanks peanut.

Caveman85de · 2010-06-23 23:56:26

gconf is gnome's failed attempt to implement a registry, windows-style

trusktr · 2010-06-24 01:09:16

Yeah but dude, gconf is already way, WAY better than the windows registry. It's easy to use, and well lableled. All it does is simply provide an interface for changing settings located in files throughout the filesystem (rather than storing them all in the registry).

The format *looks* like the windows regisry but it totally not (much better than) the windows registry!

Peanut · 2010-06-24 02:36:07

Caveman85de wrote:

gconf is gnome's failed attempt to implement a registry, windows-style

I don't see why it is a failed attempt.

Gconf is just a Gnome framework to access XML configuration files. It relieves applications of having to parse these files themselves, and alerts applications if their configuration file changes. If you don't like gconf-editor, the configuration files in ~/.gconf can be edited manually instead. I believe you can configure Gconf to use a binary database instead of XML files, but that's a feature not a bug.

It is a bit dated (2000), but you might be interested in taking a look at this link.

trusktr · 2010-06-24 03:04:31

I think gconf is just fine exactly how it is currently.

PandaSoli · 2023-10-11 04:43:49

Hey, I got here searching for what `xdg` would mean and why the command `xdg-open` exists in my system if I didn't install it (I guessed).
And I saw you saying that `gconfd` runs on Gnome. So I had to comment to say I have it running in i3wm, and idk why actually.
@Peanut

V1del · 2023-10-11 10:35:42

You are necrobumping a 13 year old thread, it's unlikely this is related to whatever you are seeing right now.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Genera … bumping%22

Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-06-21 17:37:07

Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#2 2010-06-21 17:45:50

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#3 2010-06-21 22:38:34

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#4 2010-06-22 19:20:29

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#5 2010-06-23 02:32:54

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#6 2010-06-23 03:33:16

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#7 2010-06-23 03:36:53

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#8 2010-06-23 07:25:54

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#9 2010-06-23 23:56:26

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#10 2010-06-24 01:09:16

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#11 2010-06-24 02:36:07

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#12 2010-06-24 03:04:31

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#13 2023-10-11 04:43:49

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

#14 2023-10-11 10:35:42

Re: Hey, what's xdg? (settings in /etc/xdg)

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