Configuration Information
The XDG Base
Directory specification defines the standard locations for
applications to place data and configuration files. These files
can be used, for instance, to define the menu structure and menu
items in a desktop environment.
The default location for configuration files to be installed is
/etc/xdg, and the default locations
for data files are /usr/local/share
and /usr/share. These locations can
be extended with the environment variables XDG_CONFIG_DIRS and XDG_DATA_DIRS, respectively. The GNOME, KDE
and XFCE environments respect
respect these settings. Update the XDG_DATA_DIRS (if necessary) and XDG_CONFIG_DIRS environment variables so that the
additional MIME-types application databases and desktop menu
files are properly maintained and discovered by adding the
following to the system-wide or personal profile:
For GNOME:
XDG_DATA_DIRS=$GNOME_PREFIX/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/gnome/2.18.3/xdg:/etc/xdg
export XDG_DATA_DIRS XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
For KDE:
XDG_DATA_DIRS=$KDE_PREFIX/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/kde/xdg:/etc/xdg
export XDG_DATA_DIRS XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
For XFCE, the default locations
should be appropriate if the instructions in the BLFS book were
followed.
When a package installs a .desktop
file to a location in one of the base data directories, the
database that maps MIME-types to available applications can be
updated. For instance, the cache file at /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache can be
rebuilt by executing the following command as the root user:
update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications