XDGCONFIGHOME

XDGCONFIGHOME is not a standard environment variable defined by the XDG Base Directory Specification. The canonical variable for the location of per-user configuration files is XDG_CONFIG_HOME. Because XDGCONFIGHOME is not part of the spec, naming inconsistencies in scripts or documentation can cause confusion, and software that follows the standard will not recognize it automatically.

XDG_CONFIG_HOME specifies the base directory for user-specific configuration files. If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset, applications typically fall back to $HOME/.config. The XDG Base Directory Specification also defines XDG_CONFIG_DIRS for system-wide configuration files, commonly including /etc/xdg, which are consulted in addition to the user’s own directory.

XDGCONFIGHOME usage: Some projects or shell scripts may define or document XDGCONFIGHOME as a nonstandard alias for the same path, or as an alternative variable name in certain environments. This is not portable and is not guaranteed to be recognized by software that adheres to the official specification.

Setting and examples: To customize the location, users may set in their shell startup files, for example: export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$HOME/.config". To influence global defaults, XDG_CONFIG_DIRS can be set (e.g., /etc/xdg). Applications will typically read these variables in order to locate configuration files.

Compatibility and scope: The XDG Base Directory Specification aims to keep configuration files out of the home directory clutter and to provide consistent locations across desktop environments. It is widely supported on Linux and other Unix-like systems. Windows does not implement the standard natively, and compatibility layers or tools may offer similar behavior. Security considerations include setting appropriate permissions on the config directory to protect sensitive data.