On 05/02/2018 06:59 PM, Samuel Sieb wrote:
On 05/02/2018 02:49 PM, Temlakos wrote:
On 05/02/2018 05:39 PM, Samuel Sieb wrote:
Are you trying to remove all the user configuration files as well?
If so, then just turn on "show hidden files" in Nautilus and delete
the dot directories. But of course, only do that if you really want
to have to reconfigure everything again.
Here is the primary benefit I derived from this method. Each user's
home directory has a number of hidden files (whose names begin with a
dot) that contain configuration variables. After several iterations
of the operating system, errors accumulate in those files. This
results as much from the sheer obsolescence of certain configuration
files and their parameters as from careless handling of the desktop.
In my case, I had several icons of Mozilla Firefox in my system tray
that I could not for the life of me remove. Furthermore, a password
manager I liked to use, simply refused to load.
So just delete the dot directories as I mentioned above. If you
really want to do it for all the users, then run:
sudo rm -rf /home/*/.??*
and don't mistype that!
Mounting /home on a separate filesystem does nothing to solve the
problem of the accumulated errors of configuration. You asked whether
I have to reconfigure everything. That's just it: yes. Because
especially after several iterations of "dnf system-upgrade," the
configuration is a mess!
I have only very rarely (single digit number of times) had an issue
with configuration files and when I did, I just deleted that specific
application's config files. I generally want my config files to stay
around.
But mounting user data, like the contents of Documents, Pictures,
etc., and even the contents of hidden application-specific
directories like .mozilla (for Firefox) and .thunderbird, /does/
eliminate the problem. The errant files get erased with the rest of
the filesystem, but the good user data remains.
Actually thinking about this, you would have to recreate all the user
directories and the symlinks again (with the right permissions) after
you do the reinstall! Is that really easier?
Now for that matter, I remind you that if you're going to mount a
separate file system as /home, you still have to use a command that
will make the mounting permanent and not something you have to
execute every time you start the system up. So maybe you can tell me
what the syntax of the mount command would be for that. I'm sure I
can adapt that to the system I borrowed from that other user.
You add a line to the /etc/fstab file to automatically mount it at boot.
Now I'd like to know the syntax of that line.
Now about zero-ing out the configuration files: the problem is that the
configuration involved is the /desktop/ configuration. Application
configuration is fine, especially Firefox, thunderbird, and a
specialized program called MakeMKV where I like to retain registration
keys. But the KDE configuration really suffers, and suffers at every
major upgrade--meaning from one version of Fedora to the next. That's
when the biggest changes take place. Suddenly all bets are off, and the
old configurations are obsolete.
The further trouble is that if I just erase the configuration files,
some of these programs won't load. Better to start fresh.
Prize example: the inauguration of the dnfupdater to replace Apper for
software management. I did not see that one coming, and I doubt the
automatic upgrade would have been kind to it.
Symlinks are easy enough to re-create. I'm writing a script to do them
all at once. All it will take is a simple re-execution.
Temlakos
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