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Back in the day, this is what /etc was for. You'd install binaries in /usr or /bin and then NFS mount those from your clients. Then all the config was local i

Back in the day, this is what /etc was for. You'd install binaries in /usr or /bin and then NFS mount those from your clients. Then all the config was local in /etc (and the programs generally respected the idea of either creating a config file in /etc on first run or just doing the default thing if it wasn't there). I'm sad that we got away from that standard. It was nice when I could just back up /etc and be good to go. (Of course this is looking with rose colored glasses, we never had 100% adherence to the standard, which is how we got to where we are).

PMunch 3y ago
You seem to be thinking of programs, this is talking about projects. Various compilers, linkers, CI tools, etc. look in the root directory of your project for config files or other rules. This proposes to move all those files to `.meta` in order to keep the project root directory clean.
josephg 3y ago
Most of the examples they give - like package.json - are specific to the project, not the whole operating system. And they are typically checked in to a project’s git directory. /etc stores system configuration (like the local timezone). They have a very different purpose.
- galleywest200 3y ago
  /etc/nginx and /etc/httpd are two examples that are prevalent but have nothing to do with a system's configuration.
  - regularfry 3y ago
    Depends where you think the boundary of "the system" is.
  - bawolff 3y ago
    That's incorrect, those are system config (i.e. how nginx/httpd run on your system). Which is a very different type of config than being discussed here.