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I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user. Er-readying values isn’t done usually with apps. You can get corrupted files if t

I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user. Er-readying values isn’t done usually with apps. You can get corrupted files if two instances fight for the same file. If that’s your thing, please use mongo. Also, please provide support to all the users. Lastly, if you messed up certain configuration or data files, your system won’t boot either on ANY system. Sounds like you’re just one of many anti-windows people, exactly what was pointed out about people bashing the registry.

lelanthran 4y ago
> I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user I don't believe you can. What distribution is this?
jbverschoor 4y ago
Point about /etc is that it’s just one part of “configuration”. There’s no /etc for users. That’s why we get all these dot.dirs. At least some apps use ~/.config/
- hiptobecubic 4y ago
  .config/ and .local/ are the de facto /etc for users, but there is the set of XDG_ environment variables that are intended to fill that role.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    I'm pretty sure .local is the per-user /usr, and .config is /etc
    - db48x 4y ago
      You’re both correct; a fair number of applications put their configuration in ~/.local/share even though that wasn’t the intent.
  - jbverschoor 4y ago
    Well, my git, ssh, caches of what not, almost everything is in my home directory directly. It's even worse than "My Documents"
    - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
      „My Documents” isn’t the same as a home directory. Home directory in recent Windows versions is „C:\Users\CurrentUserName”. Or better: %homedrive%%homepath%.
    - viraptor 4y ago
      Git uses XDG_CONFIG_HOME https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Files https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Files - putting the config directly in your home is just a choice.
      - jbverschoor 4y ago
        It doesn’t in macOS. It’s not a choice. It’s the default. It’s like saying it’s a choice to run mongodb without authentication. Lastly, why should I be using XDG Desktop variables on something that don’t haveA desktop environment?
- augustk 4y ago
  "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user-specific configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be used." https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html#variables https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-...
deelowe 4y ago
> I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user. You're right, you shouldn't. If you are able to, your distro is very odd and I'd recommend seeking a new one. > Sounds like you’re just one of many anti-windows people, exactly what was pointed out about people bashing the registry. There's no need to attack people.
- chasil 4y ago
  This is emphatically NOT true. If you absolutely could not write to /etc, then you would never be able to change your password. The passwd, chsh, chfn, and other utilities allow a non-privileged user to make controlled changes to privileged files via the setuid/gid system calls. A user can trigger controlled writes to files in /etc.
  - deelowe 4y ago
    That's being a bit pedantic innit?
    - lelanthran 4y ago
      Maybe in OPs opinion, using `passwd` to write to `/etc/passwd` is not the same thing as using the registry API to write to the registry? Personally, I feel it is the same thing.
  - 5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
    > If you absolutely could not write to /etc, then you would never be able to change your password. Since we're talking about Linux, I would refrain from using absolute clauses like "never". systemd-homed allows you to create "portable" user profiles which contain everything pertaining to a particular user, including his password. So user profiles (including your files, etc) can be moved between computers simply by rsync'ing that directory, or putting it on a network share. `homectl passwd` (which changes a portable user's password) does not require writable /etc. I think I've seen a few other solutions like that. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-homed https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-homed https://systemd.io/HOME_DIRECTORY/ https://systemd.io/HOME_DIRECTORY/

lelanthran 4y ago

> I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user I don't believe you can. What distribution is this?

jbverschoor 4y ago

Point about /etc is that it’s just one part of “configuration”. There’s no /etc for users. That’s why we get all these dot.dirs. At least some apps use ~/.config/

hiptobecubic 4y ago
.config/ and .local/ are the de facto /etc for users, but there is the set of XDG_ environment variables that are intended to fill that role.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  I'm pretty sure .local is the per-user /usr, and .config is /etc
  - db48x 4y ago
    You’re both correct; a fair number of applications put their configuration in ~/.local/share even though that wasn’t the intent.
- jbverschoor 4y ago
  Well, my git, ssh, caches of what not, almost everything is in my home directory directly. It's even worse than "My Documents"
  - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
    „My Documents” isn’t the same as a home directory. Home directory in recent Windows versions is „C:\Users\CurrentUserName”. Or better: %homedrive%%homepath%.
  - viraptor 4y ago
    Git uses XDG_CONFIG_HOME https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Files https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Files - putting the config directly in your home is just a choice.
    - jbverschoor 4y ago
      It doesn’t in macOS. It’s not a choice. It’s the default. It’s like saying it’s a choice to run mongodb without authentication. Lastly, why should I be using XDG Desktop variables on something that don’t haveA desktop environment?
augustk 4y ago
"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user-specific configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be used." https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html#variables https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-...

deelowe 4y ago

> I can’t and shouldn’t be able to write to /etc as an ordinary or guest user. You're right, you shouldn't. If you are able to, your distro is very odd and I'd recommend seeking a new one. > Sounds like you’re just one of many anti-windows people, exactly what was pointed out about people bashing the registry. There's no need to attack people.

chasil 4y ago
This is emphatically NOT true. If you absolutely could not write to /etc, then you would never be able to change your password. The passwd, chsh, chfn, and other utilities allow a non-privileged user to make controlled changes to privileged files via the setuid/gid system calls. A user can trigger controlled writes to files in /etc.
- deelowe 4y ago
  That's being a bit pedantic innit?
  - lelanthran 4y ago
    Maybe in OPs opinion, using `passwd` to write to `/etc/passwd` is not the same thing as using the registry API to write to the registry? Personally, I feel it is the same thing.
- 5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
  > If you absolutely could not write to /etc, then you would never be able to change your password. Since we're talking about Linux, I would refrain from using absolute clauses like "never". systemd-homed allows you to create "portable" user profiles which contain everything pertaining to a particular user, including his password. So user profiles (including your files, etc) can be moved between computers simply by rsync'ing that directory, or putting it on a network share. `homectl passwd` (which changes a portable user's password) does not require writable /etc. I think I've seen a few other solutions like that. https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-homed https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-homed https://systemd.io/HOME_DIRECTORY/ https://systemd.io/HOME_DIRECTORY/