Paths can be overridden using environment variables on Linux, but not MacOS?

[bede]

Thanks for creating platformdirs. I was surprised to learn that while on Linux, user_data_dir() can be overridden with $XDG_DATA_HOME (unix.py), it cannot be overridden on MacOS (macos.py).

It would be very useful if a single environment variable could be used to override the OS-specific default chosen by platformdirs. My assumption was that this is what platformdirs did until I tested it. Perhaps this could be made clearer to avoid confusion? I'm happy to PR the readme if welcomed.

[gaborbernat]

Duplicate of #4

[bede]

Hi @gaborbernat, evidently this path is well trodden, but did you read the final sentence?

Perhaps this could be made clearer to avoid confusion? I'm happy to PR the readme if welcomed.

I simply asked if clarification of the readme is welcome as a PR. That way fewer people will be surprised by the library not working as they expected. The extent of activity related to #4 shows that a lot of people are confused by this.

Also, the Readme says:

On Linux (and other Unices), according to the XDG Basedir Spec, it should be:

This is somewhat misleading since MacOS is a Unix-based OS, but is not covered by the behaviours this sentence references. This sentence led me to believe the intended behaviour is a bug.

Would you in principle be happy to merge clarification of MacOS/Windows behaviour in the Readme?

[gaborbernat]

Would you in principle be happy to merge clarification of MacOS/Windows behaviour in the Readme?

Definitely 😊 while macOS claims to be POSIX-compliant, in practice at no point their docs encourage or document the use of the XDG_DATA_HOME env var and such would surprise some user if we'd add support.

[bede]

Thank you, I understand the rationale for lack of support having read #4. Perhaps the best place to introduce a clarification is in the section platformdirs to the rescue? Perhaps just a sentence early on, in order to signpost users.

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On Wed, 6 Mar 2024 at 00:01, Bernát Gábor ***@***.***> wrote: Would you in principle be happy to merge clarification of MacOS/Windows behaviour in the Readme? Definitely 😊 while macOS claims to be POSIX-compliant, in practice at no point their docs encourage or document the use of the XDG_DATA_HOME env var and such would surprise some user if we'd add support. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#269 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAHWAABIH5KDKTLDGP5ER5DYWZMGTAVCNFSM6AAAAABEH26OQKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSNZZHAZTQMJYGM> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[gaborbernat]

Agreed, please put in a PR with that.