RE: How to specify customized configuration file rather than"~/.emacs" ?

[Drew Adams]

> >   $ emacs -Q -l ~/special-config.el
> 
> You'll probably also want to put (setq user-init-file
> "~/special-config.el") in that file, or Emacs will refuse to save
> customizations

That's all well and good, but to me the simplest and long-standard approach is
simply to set option `custom-file' and load it from your ~/.emacs file (early or
late in the file, depending on what you want/need).

Dunno why anyone would let Customize diddle with their ~/.emacs.

The _default_ for Emacs should be for Customize to save customizations to a
reasonable default `custom-file', just like we do for bookmark files and all the
rest.  Whoever let Customize mess with ~/.emacs in the first place should long
ago have been sent back to GnuLand for regrooving. ;-)