another distutils question

[Eric S. Johansson]

Robert Kern wrote:

> Instead, include the default data inside the package (read-only to non-root 
> users). Then allow the script itself to create the directory the first time it 
> is run (read-write, and it should then automatically be accessible to the user 
> that ran the script). You might also add a command-line option to *only* install 
> that directory.

I would be okay with a package/data/... arrangement if and only if the 
data within that directory was read only and only changed when the 
package changed it.  System specific changes would be in a system copy 
of the configuration file and user specific changes would be a user copy.

If you create a configuration system which uses a union of all three 
configuration files, you eliminate unnecessary replication of 
configuration values, minimize changes necessary when the baseline 
configuration file changes, and  you also have the opportunity to 
control scope of configuration variables.  I.e. some that are only 
changed in the system config file.

I have an application dependent version of this I've been using for the 
past three years and, it's really nice.  It lets me mostly ignore the 
configuration files and focus on what I'm trying to solve.

--- eric