#92 Conform to XDG Base Directory Specification

[Don Pellegrino]

Feature Request

It would be useful to conform to the XDG Base Directory Specification when writing new configuration files.

Background

Currently, GATE Developer stores user configuration files at the top of the user's home directory on Linux. These include:

~/.gate.session
~/.gate.xml
~/.gate (sub-directory)

GATE's use of these files is documented in the "User Guide" under "2.3 Using System Properties with GATE". In addition, the location can be overridden by user configuration.

Following XDG, the files would be moved under ~/.config/gate/ ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gate/) instead of placed at the top-level of the home directory. Following XDG would provide better consistency with other applications and make backup and file management easier.

Work-Around

Presumably, GATE can be configured to use ~/.config/gate/ instead of ~/ by following section 2.3 of the "User Guide." However, this feature request is to change the default behaviour for a new installation.

Test System

CentOS Linux release 7.4.1708
GATE Developer 8.4.1 build 5753