XDG filesystem hierarchy

#freedesktop.org and standard directories

Many free and open source projects focused on desktop technology collaborate on shared specifications and software through the freedesktop.org project.

One of these shared specifications is the base directory specification, which defines a set of locations in the file system for portable desktop technology.

SonicDE follows the base directory specification and the environment variables it prescribes. A summary follows, and you can read the full specification on the freedesktop.org website.

#Application data

Data that applications store for a particular user goes in the XDG_DATA_HOME directory. If the XDG_DATA_HOME environment variable isn't set, it defaults to $HOME/.local/share for local storage, and system-wide files are in /usr/local/share and /usr/share.

Items stored in XDG_DATA_HOME may include files the user has put in the trash, file type definitions and associations, and application .desktop files.

To define the search path for system-wide directories, set the XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable to a list of paths.

#Configuration

Configuration information goes in the XDG_CONFIG_HOME directory. If the XDG_CONFIG_HOME environment variable isn't set, it defaults to $HOME/.config for local storage and /etc/xdg for system-wide files.

Items stored in XDG_CONFIG_HOME may include application configuration files and the application menu structure.

To define the search path for system-wide directories, set the XDG_CONFIG_DIRS environment variable to a list of paths.

#Cache files

Temporary data caches can be stored in the XDG_CACHE_HOME location, which defaults to $HOME/.cache. There is no system-wide cache location, as caches are always specific to a user. See Caches.

#Thumbnails

Thumbnails representing the contents of files, used in icons and other representations of files, are stored in $XDG_CACHE_HOME/thumbnails. The thumbnail specification defines the structure and content of this folder.