Re: ~/.emacs vs ~/.emacs.d/init.el.

[2QdxY4RzWzUUiLuE]

On 2020-12-13 at 23:12:39 +0800,
Hongyi Zhao <hongyi.zhao@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 10:53 PM <2QdxY4RzWzUUiLuE@potatochowder.com> wrote:

> > Presumably, ~/.config/emacs is an alternative to ~/.emacs.d, so you
> > would move all of that user data from ~/.emacs.d to ~/.config/emacs.
> > The net result would have been the same if you had renamed
> > ~/.emacs.d to ~/.config/emacs instead of separating the init file
> > from the other user data.
> 
> The above operation described by you doesn't conform to the XDG base
> directory specification given on its official website
> <https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html>.
> To be more specific, see the following exceptions from there for more
> info:
> 
> Environment variables
> 
> $XDG_DATA_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user
> specific data files should be stored. If $XDG_DATA_HOME is either not
> set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.local/share should be used.
> 
> $XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user
> specific configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is
> either not set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be
> used.
> 
> So, if we want to let emacs fully comply with this specification, then
> the data should be put under $XDG_DATA_HOME while the config files
> should be put under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME. So, the conclusion should be
> drawn as follows:
> 
>  Emacs data, say, user installed packages  ------>  $HOME/.local/share/emacs
>  Emacs config files, say, init.el  ------> $HOME/.config/emacs

That analysis seems sound, but I'm not up on XDG standards or the latest
emacs thought processes enough to be sure (and Lisp furhter blurs the
line between data and config, not to mention code).  Perhaps the emacs
maintainer(s) can clarify on this thread, or perhaps you could file a
bug report.

Eli?  Stefan?

FWIW, I'm sticking to my very old ~/.emacs.el file and a few explicitly
loaded files under ~/.emacs.d.