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Asked: 2026-05-13T22:08:48+00:00

What is recommended way to keep a user configuration data in Unix/Linux? My programming

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What is recommended way to keep a user configuration data in Unix/Linux?
My programming language is C++. Configuration data will be kept in XML/text/binary format, I have no problem with handling such files. I want to know where can I keep them. For example, in the Windows OS configuration data may be kept in the Registry (old way) or in user application data directory. What about Linux?
I need read/write access to configuration files.

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  1. Editorial Team

    The concept of the registry is peculiar to Windows, and Microsoft once admitted to it being ill-conceived (see this, this, this, this (see #2), and this).

    In Unix and Linux, configuration for system-wide programs is in /etc or maybe an application-specific subdirectory.

    Per user configuration data are kept in the user’s home directory in a hidden file—in text format—or an application-specific hidden directory in the user’s home directory. The proper way to reference the home directory is through the environment variable HOME. Hidden files and directories are created by making . the first character of the name.

    Examples for system-wide configuration is /etc/wgetrc and /etc/ssh/. Examples of per-user data are $HOME/.bashrc and $HOME/.mozilla/.

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