Unix Directory Standards

What's the advantage over plain old /etc ? I am always annoyed by /bin, /usr/bin, /usr/share/bin, and others. Why can't we consolidate?

It's very common for linux applications to store stuff in $XDG_DATA_HOME (~/.local/share by default) (config files and caches go somewhere else)In my ~/.local I also have a bin/ directory (created by some Haskell tool), so rather than putting stuff in /Users/username/usr/local, I think it might make more sense to recreate the (needed parts of) a unix fs hierarchy in /Users/username/.localThere's also ~/LibrarySupport on

I can recall any Linux distro or Unix variant setup in the way you describe. In addition, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard disagrees with you.https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/index.htmlYou may be thinking of the /bin and /usr/bin difference, though.

Stuff in /usr/(bin|share|...) might get overwritten by system update or reinstall. A better choice is /usr/local/

this makes Unix-style directories seem downright logical:- programs go in /bin- configurations go in /etc- libraries go in /lib- your personal user files go in /home/username

I agree, because of XDG_CONFIG_HOME vs. XDG_CACHE_HOME vs. XDG_DATA_HOME.See https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Base_Directory.

Linux programs don't normally do that, they put files in known places /bin, /etc /lib and so on

strongly disagree - as of 2022, more apps follow the XDG Base Directory Specification than not - in fact, by a wide margin. So by "doing dirty" in your users home directory, you're going against the grain of the ecosystem.It doesn't seem like you understand much about the specification? I'd recommend reading it, or at least a short summary I've made available here: https:/

Both of these should ideally not be in the home directory at all but under XDG_CONFIG_HOME.

Doesn't the standard just put everything in /home/user/.local anyway?