[xmonad] automatically generating template xmonad.hs if it doesn't exist

Isaac Dupree isaacdupree at charter.net
Fri Jan 4 15:59:48 EST 2008


Spencer Janssen wrote:
> We ought to look at precedent from most other Unix tools -- they don't install
> stub configuration files and I think there are good reasons behind that.
> Consider a user that tries xmonad, but then decides in the end that it isn't
> for them.  We shouldn't leave ~/.xmonad cruft (probably including a 3MB cached
> binary!) behind.

Unfortunately, precedent states that lots of ~/.* cruft _is_ left around 
by many applications; for example, shells leave history-files, and 
preferences / automatic memories are automatically stored there, and 
there's not much to do about it (other than avoid the big 3MB cached 
binaries where possible :-) ... As a user I prefer having the stub 
config file put there, in general, because it makes me feel more likely 
that I've actually got the right file that's going to be read by the 
program, and a basic idea of its syntax.  (But then if the app is 
upgraded, an old stub config file will be left there! Oh Nosies!)

~Isaac


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