SUMMARY Akonadi components put their config files in different places - some under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME, others under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME, and some seem to put them in both places. While this technically does not contradict the XDG spec, this is inconsistent, difficult to use., and contributes to the mess in ~/.config that is a deterrent to many novice users. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Install Akonadi, work with it for a while 2. Check content of ~/.config OBSERVED RESULT There are some configuration files in a directory ~/.config/akonadi, and other configuration files directly under ~/./config, which is both inconsistent and unwieldy On my system: > cd ~/.config > ls -1 akonadi* akonadi_akonotes_resource_0rc akonadi_contacts_resource_2rc akonadi-firstrunrc akonadi_ical_resource_0rc akonadi_indexing_agentrc akonadi_maildir_resource_0rc akonadi-migrationrc akonadi: agent_config_akonadi_akonotes_resource_0 agent_config_akonadi_akonotes_resource_0_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_archivemail_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_birthdays_resource agent_config_akonadi_birthdays_resource_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_0 agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_0_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_1 agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_1_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_2 agent_config_akonadi_contacts_resource_2_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_followupreminder_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_ical_resource_0 agent_config_akonadi_ical_resource_0_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_indexing_agent agent_config_akonadi_indexing_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_maildir_resource_0 agent_config_akonadi_maildir_resource_0_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_maildispatcher_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_mailfilter_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_mailmerge_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_migration_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_notes_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_sendlater_agent_changes.dat agent_config_akonadi_unifiedmailbox_agent agent_config_akonadi_unifiedmailbox_agent_changes.dat agentsrc akonadiconnectionrc akonadiserverrc EXPECTED RESULT If we have a directory ~/.config/akonadi, all Akonadi coomponents should put their config files in there. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Akonadi components 21.08.3 Operating System: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20211107 KDE Plasma Version: 5.23.2 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.87.0 Qt Version: 5.15.2 Kernel Version: 5.14.14-1-default (64-bit) Graphics Platform: Wayland ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Not an issue, this is the expected layout. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/akonadi/ contains files needed by akonadi (the server). Akonadi resources have theirs into $XDG_CONFIG_HOME.
There may be a rationale to it, but as a user I find it rather confusing to have seven Akonadi config files under ~/.config, and then another subdirectory called akonadi with another 30 files.
That's why resources have graphical configuration modules. Config files are not supposed to be edited manually.
The reason for this bug report was not that I tried to edit the configuration manually, but that I tried to back up my KDE configuration and the files are all over the place. I appreciate that there is a technical reasons behind it. But for a user who knows nothing about the architecture of Akonad,i this is not very intuitive and can be confusing. Akonadi is not the only app that does this, but it's a particularly obvious one because it makes its own config subdirectory, but then puts several files outside of it. I prefer how Falkon or KDE Connect do it - one subdirectory under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME with all config data underneath it (and ideally persistent stateful data should then go separately under $XDG_STATE_HOME).