Re: $HOME default on w32

[Stefan Monnier]

> ,----
> | It seems that on w32, if HOME is not defined we default it to C:/.
> | Wouldn't it make more sense to default it to $USERPOFILE (if set) which on 
> XP
> | seems to typically point to C:/Documents and Files/<user> which is about as
> | close to a "home directory" as it gets?
> `----

> May not be a good idea.

> C:/Documents and Settings/<user> contains spaces. I am afraid it may cause
> problems.

My $HOME is set to C:/Documents and Settings/stefan and Emacs works fine.
I know spaces cause difficulties for command line tools, but Windows file
and directory names have spaces and we have to live with it, regardless of
whether we put our home dir there or not.

> 2. There is chance that you may format your C: and reinstall Windows
>    from scratch. It's highly possible you forget there is so important
>    data under this
>    too-damned-long-and-silly-named-with-many-stupid-spaces-dir. You know
>    what this means.
>    I can image that there must be many OE users around the world who
>    forget to backup their emails before reinstalling.

I doubt a Windows user would forget about his own Desktop and "My Documents".
As a matter of fact, for non-Admin users these are about the only directories
where they should have write access.

> To sum up, I think it's very bad idea to follow this M$ sillie. And if
> possible, I think use a subdir under C: should be avoided.  A good choice
> may be d:/home.

Most machines I've seen have no D: drive.

We're talking about a default for non-Unixy users here.  Let's get real.

> If you are a Windows sufferer, you know you have to reinstall it several
> times each year. And every time, you have risk to lose some
> important data.

This is completely irrelevant to this thread.


        Stefan