Hey everyone! I'm new to Linux Mint with Cinnamon and I'm getting into using Conky for desktop visualization. I have a basic understanding of the terminal and Unix from my work, but I'm confused about the location of the config files. The Conky documentation says to look in ~/.config/conky/conky.conf, but I'm having trouble seeing my downloaded configs. When I use the 'cd' command, it takes me to my home directory, which shows up as [MyUserName]@[PC-Name]:~$. I can navigate to higher-level directories using 'cd ../', but I'm unsure if the config files should be in this home directory inside a .config folder, or if they're supposed to be in my username's directory that apps will reference.
4 Answers
Just a heads-up! Conky looks in /home/username/.config/conky/conky.conf, so your config files should definitely go there. The paths ~/.config and /home//.config refer to the same place, so both are valid when using the terminal.
The shell uses '~' when you're in /home/username. The commands 'cd' or 'cd ~' both take you to your home dir. The ~/.config folder comes from the freedesktop.org standard for user settings. If `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` isn't set, it defaults to $HOME/.config.
So is this .config behavior standard across many applications since it follows that guideline? It seems like some default to ~/.appfile and others to ~/.config.
Hey! The Conky documentation mentions the ~/.config/conky/conky.conf location, but you can actually put your configs wherever you want. I’ve been using Conky for years and I don’t have a conky folder there. You can just invoke Conky like this: `conky -d -c /path-to-your-config-file`. As for navigating, I prefer using the file manager (Nemo) and just right-clicking to open a terminal if I need one. It saves time for me!
I was checking out the ArchWiki and got it working from a conky folder in ~/.config, but good to know about those invocation options! Thanks!
You can also use ~/.conkyrc or give a specific config path like 'conky -c workrc'. Personally, I just don't prefer using ~/.config/conky/ for my setups.
Thanks for clarifying! That seemed to be the case based on other programs, but I wasn't entirely sure. Super helpful!