Re: [dev] environment variables versus runtime configuration (rc) files versus X resources

From: Dimitris Papastamos <sin_AT_2f30.org>
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2014 20:21:36 +0000

On Mon, Nov 03, 2014 at 02:32:25PM -0500, Greg Reagle wrote:
> I just had a thought that might be of interest to fans of the suckless
> philosophy.
>
> It occurred to me that environment variables can be used to configure a
> program, instead of programming in a parser or extension language into a
> program. Are there any reasons not to just use environment variables?
> Then a rc file could just be a shell script that sets environment
> variables. Do you know of any programs that do this? I assume there
> are disadvantages, but what?

Another down-side is that different shells use different syntax for setting
and unsetting environment variables, which can be a PITA if you want
to share your configuration.
Received on Mon Nov 03 2014 - 21:21:36 CET