Re: $HOME default on w32

[Stefan Daschek]

CHENG Gao <address@hidden> writes:

> ,----
> | It seems that on w32, if HOME is not defined we default it to C:/.
> | Wouldn't it make more sense to default it to $USERPOFILE (if set) which on 
> XP
> | seems to typically point to C:/Documents and Files/<user> which is about as
> | close to a "home directory" as it gets?
> `----
>
> May not be a good idea.
>
> C:/Documents and Settings/<user contains spaces. I am afraid it may cause
> problems.
>
> For Emacs, I think installing it to C:/Program Files/ and set HOME to
> C:/Documents and Settings/ are both bad ideas. Space in directory name may
> cause problems.

I think I have encountered such problems once or twice, but I consider
them bugs that should be fixed anyway.


> To sum up, I think it's very bad idea to follow this M$ sillie. And if
> possible, I think use a subdir under C: should be avoided.

I don't think so. Users that are aware of the - correct -
disadvantages you mentioned also know how to deal with this problems
(eg. relocate the »My Documents« folder to another partition for
example, or just setting $HOME to another value). Other users will be
confused by any non-standard behaviour, and storing settings outside
$USERPROFILE is non-standard behaviour.


> A good choice may be d:/home.

Very few of the "non power users" I know even have a (writable)
partition "D:", so I think that's a bad idea.


ciao,
noniq