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Subject: Re: RFC: 1.7.33 problem with user's home directory
From: Warren Young <wyml@etr-usa.com>
In-Reply-To: <20141111101821.GO2782@calimero.vinschen.de>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:45:27 -0700
Message-Id: <6FA5AF0B-E176-49DA-A679-A2F9272412D0@etr-usa.com>
References: <20141110205216.GJ2782@calimero.vinschen.de> <0B8D23F7-0258-472D-BF38-860402FD3CDC@etr-usa.com> <20141111101821.GO2782@calimero.vinschen.de>
To: cygwin@cygwin.com
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On Nov 11, 2014, at 3:18 AM, Corinna Vinschen <corinna-cygwin@cygwin.com> wrote:

> 1. Utilize the homeDirectory AD attribute (aka %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%).
> 2. If homeDirectory is empty, fall back to /home/$USER.

This is just a subset of what I suggested, so I’m in favor of it.

(By subset I mean that I’d prefer you do essentially the same thing for the non-AD case, too.)

> 1. Always use /home/$USER and let the admins come up with a matching
>   mount point scheme.

That’s neglecting your responsibility as BDFL to set a sensible default.  The consequence is that everyone will do it differently, and then you’ll have to support everything on an equal basis, because you chose not to endorse anything.

When you choose a sensible default, you get the option to criticize and even deprecate wild alternative schemes.

> 1. Add a setting to /etc/nsswitch.conf which allows to specify one of
>  the above:
> 
>    home: [unix|win|home]...
> 
>   - "unix" means, set pw_dir to unixHomeDirectory
>   - "win" means, set pw_dir to homeDirectory
>   - "home" means, set pw_dir to /home/$USER
>   - Multiple entries are possible.
>   - Default in the absence of this setting is: always set pw_dir to
>     /home/$USER.

I see that as orthogonal.  It has the advantage of providing not only a sensible default but also a list of endorsed alternatives.

Whether you *want* to endorse some or all of these alternatives by codifying them is a separate question.
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