hidden directories under /etc/

[Omair Majid]

On 09/29/2011 05:43 PM, Alan Bateman wrote:
> Omair Majid wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I recently discovered that openjdk creates hidden directories under
>> /etc/ [1]. I would like to propose that those directories should be
>> made explicit.
>>
>> webrev at:
>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~omajid/webrevs/hidden-dirs-under-etc/01/
>>
>> The patch modifies the directory names to make them visible by
>> default. The directory /etc/java/ already exists on many linux
>> distributions - jpackage uses it - so it seems like a useful
>> replacement directory.
>>
>> The patch also renames systemPrefs to system-prefs to make it slightly
>> more consistent with existing directories under /etc/.
>>
>> Does anyone have any thoughts or concerns?
> I don't think the preferences API is used very often but changing the
> default locations will mean that existing preferences are lost (unless
> you set java.util.prefs.userRoot and java.util.prefs.systemRoot to their
> original location). I'm not sure if it's worth the disruption it might
> cause.
>

Yes, I am a little afraid of the disruption too, which is why I proposed 
it for jdk8, not for a 7 update.

That said, I think these directories should be visible by default. We 
are storing preferences in it and hiding the directory from the sysadmin 
serves no purpose. In fact, programs like rkhunter tend to flag them as 
suspicious [1].

Thanks,
Omair

[1] http://www.google.com/search?q=rkhunter+etc+java