User directories integration - request for help

[Alexander Larsson]

On Sat, 2007-03-17 at 22:03 +0200, Baris Cicek wrote:
> I could not find where to post this, so sending over here. 
> 
> I changed Alex's xdg-user-dirs application to make it using symlinks
> instead of actual directories. Maybe it's something in vain but just
> wanted to put my solution into a prototype so as to be tested. (Maybe
> someone like it). 
> 
> Actually using symlinks give better handling of localization than using
> --force. It does not touch directories, so can be considered
> theoretically more secure. 

Each application will have to use readlink() to find the actual
directory to use. For sure you don't want have a filename like
~/.desktop/file.txt to ever be seen by the user, so you must always
store the expanded form. Plus, you need to fallback on a file if
symlinks are not supported.

So, I don't think this is a better solution. (As I didn't when it was
proposed in the discussions leading to the design of xdg-user-dirs.)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat,
Inc 
                   alexl at redhat.com    alla at lysator.liu.se 
He's an underprivileged flyboy gentleman spy living undercover at Ringling 
Bros. Circus. She's a foxy cigar-chomping hooker on her way to prison for a 
murder she didn't commit. They fight crime!