xfconf VS libxfce4util Resource Config Files for configuration

[flo.xfce at gmx-topmail.de]

The big advantage of xfconf is hierarchical storage. Just have a look at
xfce4-settings-editor - how would you transform the display channel or
xfce4-panel channel settings into an rc file? (Nevertheless an rc file
can also be a valid choice, especially for plugns, which usually have
only a few settings).
The point here is: Different applications have different needs when it
comes to settings storage. You can either use a big complex backend
which tries to address all those needs or multiple lightweight backends.
Have you looked at GSettings? Maybe its more to your liking.

Kind regards

On 04/30/16 12:56, OmegaPhil wrote:
> I'm the maintainer of the XFCE4 Hardware Monitor Plugin [0], and I'm
> currently reviewing how I maintain configuration for the plugin.
> 
> At the moment I use libxfce4util's rc file functionality, but I don't
> like the separation between reading and writing when you open an rc file
> (reading something and potentially writing a change based off that is a
> normal thing).
> 
> xfconf appears to offer a more regular read/write approach (haven't
> tried it yet), but looking into its implementation, immediately fails on
> KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) - hugely bloated - XML, DBus, GObject,
> probably other stuff I'm not aware of. The task is just to store and
> retrieve a few bits of data into a simple text file, which is the UNIX way.
> 
> I'm aware of xfconf's ability to store more complicated data and a
> hierarchy of data, but I don't need this. There is also the catch that
> XFCE4 has already paid the price for the bloat, however that doesn't
> dictate whether I should support it or not ('ethics').
> 
> Does anyone here have serious usage of xfconf, and can bring up good
> reasons for using it over a normal configuration file?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 0:
> http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/panel-plugins/xfce4-hardware-monitor-plugin
> 
> 
> 
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