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To be honest, it is quite complicated now as well with all of the proprietary software (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 year ago by 0x4E4F@sh.itjust.works to c/linuxmemes@lemmy.world
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[-] LouNeko@lemmy.world 103 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is the "appdata" folder, this is where all the application's data goes.

So whats the "Programs" folder then?

This is also where the application's data and files go.

But I thought thats the "Programs x86" folder.

This is also where the application's data and files go.

Ok whats "Program Files" then?

This is also where the application's data and files go.

So my config file is in either one if those 4?

No thats in the "Documents" folder, obviously.

Windows program data file structure has always been the wild west.

[-] otacon239@feddit.de 62 points 1 year ago

Don’t forget about the hidden ProgramData directory at the root of the file system. Ableton Live likes to install there for some ungodly reason.

[-] LouNeko@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

Selects separate drive for install

Adobe: "Imma, pretend I didn't see that"

[-] 0x4E4F@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Always remember, C:\ProgramData is the eqivalent of /etc in Linux. If they don't know where to put/hide shit, but needs admin priviliges to edit and users can only read, you put it in C:\ProgramData.

[-] Hawke@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think programdata is closer to /usr/lib or maybe /var/lib.

You almost never see config files in programdata.

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[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Don't forget %USERPROFILE%/AppData/Local/Programs, where some programs get installed to because the developer doesn't want to make it a system wide installation.

[-] 0x4E4F@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the Documents config file/dir pisses me off the most as well!

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Game save data? No, my documents.
Application config files? Again, my documents.
Temporary documents I don't care about keeping? Downloads, duh.
My actual documents? Desktop.
My desktop? Turned icons off because it was too messy.

Just another day using Windows...

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[-] Zorsith 9 points 1 year ago

System wide config for an application? Lets put that under C:\users*?????

[-] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 8 points 1 year ago

And Linux isn't? There's definitely not a central location either.

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[-] SGG@lemmy.world 69 points 1 year ago

Don't forget that appdata nowadays has 3 sub folders, local, locallow, and roaming.

Also there's C:\programdata

Also some programs just store it in the user folder, the documents folder, or games/ my games folder if they are a game.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

It could also be stored in the registry.

[-] SGG@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago

Oooh the registry is even more fun.

  • HKLM, HKCU? These are statements dreamt up by the utterly deranged
  • Store it in software, make your own root folder
  • Also for 32 bit programs there wow6432node
  • There's also the policies section, but this kind of makes sense to have it split off
  • Also make sure to follow the apple methodology of having multiple different key names like Apple, Apple inc., etc
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[-] pHr34kY@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

And half the time you'll find it in the registry too. Linux has proven quite well that an OS doesn't need a registry.

Oh, and what's with ProgramData and AppData being two completely different things. I understand the difference between the two directories, but there is no difference between a program and an app. Everywhere else it's Machine/User.

[-] brotundspiele@feddit.de 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Linux has proven quite well that an OS doesn't need a registry.

Gnomes dconf would like to have a word with you. It's really interesting how the Gnome people seem to get rid of every useful feature as it might confuse the user or be complex, but on the other hand add this registry-like anti-feature to make the system just as unmanageable as Windows.

[-] poinck@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

What you can find in dconf is well organized compared to what is inside of the regedit hell.

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[-] IsoSpandy@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

What the fuck is local low? I don't understand. Local is Billy G's jizz... I get that... And Roaming is for poor plebs. But why LocalLow? Is it like cache? But I have seens games saving their save files there. I don't understand

[-] Laser@feddit.de 14 points 1 year ago

The folders actually do make sense.

Roaming: this data can be moved between machines in a domain if you have a roaming profile. E.g. go to another workstation and your browser configuration is the same? Means it's in Roaming.

Local: this data will not be synchronized between machines when you roam. This could be your browser's cache.

LocalLow: like local, but for applications that are "low integrity", like Internet Explorer. These folders have special properties. https://helgeklein.com/blog/internet-explorer-in-protected-mode-how-the-low-integrity-environment-gets-created/

[-] Lath@kbin.earth 11 points 1 year ago

Local is for regular apps, LocalLow is for depressed apps and Roaming is for high apps looking for munchies.

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[-] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 43 points 1 year ago

This isn't really accurate for either side. For Linux, I've had crap shove configs in ~, /etc, /var, at least.

On Windows, it could be literally anywhere or in the registry.

[-] atmur@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

That's one thing I especially like about Flatpaks on the Linux side. Everything's in ~/.var.

[-] baseless_discourse@mander.xyz 7 points 1 year ago

Which unfortunately also don't follow xdg-dir specification...

[-] HelloHotel@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Or ~/.local/share/${software_name_or_whatever}... Or ~/.${software_name_or_whatever}/

Oof

[-] jbk@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago

i love apps which don't follow the XDG Base Directory spec 🥰🥰

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[-] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 year ago

I feel mildly aroused when I see a program or a game that collects everything in it's folder and can be used from a USB drive. Some paid, industrial grade software leaves so much traces and depends on so much different hidden files and keys it's making me sick.

[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

Any game can be used from a USB drive if that USB drive is running a live OS.

[-] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

That's deep 🤔

You can make a Confucius meme quote out of it.

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[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The setting you're looking for could be in %appdata% It could be in %localappdata% It could be in C:\ProgramData. It could be in the registry. It could be in HKLM. It could be in HKCU. It could be in any of the userdirs. It could be in the application's directory.

HA! Joke's on you, it was an envvar all along!

True story.

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[-] SomeBoyo@feddit.de 33 points 1 year ago

Or in /home/username/.applicationname/ if they want to be annoying.

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

This should be considered a war crime, and doubly so when they don't even have the decency to prefix it with a dot (looking at you Golang). It's my home folder, not a dumping grounds for random trash.

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[-] llama@midwest.social 24 points 1 year ago

Oh that setting is super easy to change, just go to run, type in regedit, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then just scroll until you find CLSID-73838-abf83-c758d57-87a90ba, set the value to zero and reboot!

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[-] Delta_V@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

not seen in this comic: the linux file isn't where the comic/manual/internet nerds says it should be, and there's no realistic way to find it

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[-] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 18 points 1 year ago

Despite what developers do at the end of the day, there are conventions for application directories on every OS.

I just use the directories crate in Rust.

https://github.com/dirs-dev/directories-rs

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[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 year ago

They don't have config files in Windows. Apps just throw things everywhere without rhyme of reason

[-] oo1@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago

windows is simple, all configs are keys accesible via reddit

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

[Deleted]

^half^ ^the^ ^time^ ^its^ ^been^ ^deleted^ ^because^ ^Spez^ ^is^ ^a^ ^greedy^ ^pigboy^

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[-] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Some people have diacritics and spaces in their usernames, which wreaks havoc for badly written programs accessing AppData or folders in the user's "home" directory, such as Documents. And there are lots of such programs.

When setting up Windows, use a short and memorable, DOS-compatible username, and then change it later (the home folder will still have the old name). You can then move indiidual Libraries (Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos) to the root of D:\ too.

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[-] topinambour_rex@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

%appdata%

[-] CamWiseOwl@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

Takes you to the roaming subfolder though

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[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

Tell that to the file I just dropped in to ~/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/compatdata/1086940/pfx

[-] LouNeko@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Then there's this developer.

[-] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Docker: right where you chose to put it.

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[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Shrug don't remember the last time I actually needed to modify a system config file on Windows...

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[-] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

Everyone knows the real power of configuration on Windows is regedit.

[-] baseless_discourse@mander.xyz 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Let's not pretend regedit is a good thing, it is littered with unreadable keys and has terrible UI and UX. And it requires root privileges to edit anything.

I believe one of the worst disservice Windows has done to secure computing is to make users desensitized about root privileges. Every single action you do need root privileges, install app, changing config, people would just click allow whenever UAC pops up...

This means any program can easily inject rootkit into Windows during install, without the users noticing a thing, like LoL.

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this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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