[Python-Dev] Fixing #7175: a standard location for Python config files

[Tim Golden]

On 12/08/2010 10:50, Tim Golden wrote:
> Unfortunately, the canonical place is not always the place most
> used. Especially since the convention under *nix is to place dotfile
> or dotdirs under $HOME. Windows doesn't, by default, have a $HOME so
> various locations are considered $HOME, including (but not limited
> to):
>
> * the directory pointed to by %HOME%
> * the directory pointed to by %USERPROFILE%
> * the "My Documents" shell folder
> (often, but not always, %USERPROFILE%\My Documents)
> * c:\ (no: really)
> * the NT profile home directory (typically a mapped share)

Additionally, on Windows Python expands ~ to the first of:

%HOME%
%USERPROFILE%
%HOMEDRIVE%\%HOMEPATH%

all of which are perfectly defensible defintions of "Home" on
Windows. But combining that with the Unix-minded concept of
"create a dotfile called ~/.myapp" means you get dotapps in
non-standard places on Windows.

TJG