Unix: Logs are not cached files about appdirs HOT 4 CLOSED

@guillemj: Just to clarify, which data dir would you expect logs to be in? The one specified by XDG_DATA_HOME?

The XDG standard says about XDG_CACHE_HOME it contains nonessential data, criterion to which logs conform to nicely.

Logs are not easy to regenerate, but I am not convinced they qualify for a better fit in the XDG_DATA_HOME directory than in cache.

from appdirs.

Well there's lots of types of logs, some originate from actions initiated by other programs (which might have less value for the user), but others are due to direct actions by users, for example during an IM conversation (which might be pretty important to keep), so because the worthiness of logs is unknown they should by default be treated as non-discardable important data. Logs, like history in general can be considered a form of state, and I've argued before that they'd deserve their own directory http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2009-February/010191.html, because they are not exactly config, but neither cache. Lacking a dedicated directory of their own, yes I think XDG_DATA_HOME is the best current option.

from appdirs.

@guillemj: That makes sense.
@srid, what do you think?

from appdirs.

@guillemj - user_log_dir would address the former case (4b95f2f), where logs have less value for the user. for the later case, with such special log files as IM logs, it would be more appropriate to construct your own app dir using user_data_dir.

from appdirs.