Re: [AD] Data file directory

[salvador <salvador@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Shawn Hargreaves wrote:

> George Foot <george.foot@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> > Under Linux, or Unix in general, it's not normal for applications to work
> > in that way.  Unless a binary's directory is in the search path, you must
> > specify the path even if it's the current directory (just `./'). Most
> > applications install their binaries into directories in the search path,
> > and have their data files in places like /usr[/local]/share/progname. Data
> > files that might need writing (high score tables, for example) go in
> > /var/... instead.
>
> How well does that model apply to a typical computer game, though? Maybe
> this is just my DOS background speaking, but it seems to me that the Unix
> system is designed very much around the idea of a multiuser system where a
> few standard apps are made available by the sysadmin. Games are quite
> different to this because:
>
> - You don't run them on multiuser machines. Graphics-intensive programs
> don't work well by remote, and in any case, no sane sysadmin will be
> allowing random accounts on a multiuser machine to run suid root games.

Don't forget Linux machines are workstations, you can have 2 accounts, one for
you and one for your brother. Even when only one will be using the console at
the same time you'll want to have two separated users (with different desktop
and window managers for example).

> - Games are ephemeral. Rather than a handful of standard programs that are
> required to be available, most people install many of them at regular
> intervals, play them for a while, then get bored and want to reclaim that
> space. For this, it strikes me as quite important for the game to be
> self-contained so that it can easily be deleted when you want to do that.

Don't forget Linux systems have package managers ;-), they can delete files
distributed in various part of your tree without problems or conflicts.

Just comments ...
SET

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Salvador Eduardo Tropea (SET). (Electronics Engineer)
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