They Are FORCING This Onto Your Linux Desktop (Without Asking!)

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]One of the reasons I use Linux and love Linux dearly is the choice that is my machine and my machine does what I want it to do.

[00:00:10]But recently, I do have to ask with a couple of things what's going on and well, that's I don't know. Linux recently got a new home directory called projects the projects folder.

[00:00:25]For some folks it just got added and did anyone ask you?

[00:00:30]XDG is a free desktop specification and it's a standard and what they do is apart from other things is they define the folders in our home directory. So, what that means is desktop, documents, downloads, music, pictures, videos and templates are essentially part of the specification. Every time the system loads or at login, another service make sure that these directories exist and creates them if they're missing. The reason they mainly exist is because a lot of applications today use these standard paths to save and open files. That's also a great way to organize your data.

[00:01:13]Now, 12 years ago in the good old 2014, ah what a time.

[00:01:20]Somebody asked for a projects directory.

[00:01:23]Okay, essentially they wanted all projects to be in a specific project directory. Now, you could create this directory yourself. You don't need to go and have it automatically created.

[00:01:36]And 12 years later, it has been shipped. So, the projects folder exists now and it joins the existing seven.

[00:01:46]So, here's the interesting thing. It's actually just one line that's been added and that's an entire patch and you I actually see it at the bottom of the slide. I've made sure to add it.

[00:01:59]How will this ripple the Linux desktop?

[00:02:02]I'm being a little bit dramatic. So, IDEs and tools moving forward and obviously it's going to take some time because it's still out there distributions out there that are LTS.

[00:02:12]So, it will take time. It will not happen overnight, but they they will now be able to assume that projects folder exists just like they assume documents exists.

[00:02:21]A sandbox apps will get a predictable path for project files.

[00:02:26]Cross desktop with the different environments all read the same path, so it will work through all of them. Now, design works, school assignments, and all of that type of stuff can fit in that folder. It doesn't just have to be code.

[00:02:39]Rolling release distros will ship it now. Others will, as I said, will follow and you're not forced to have it.

[00:02:46]But, hear me out. You can move it anywhere by just configuring the line.

[00:02:51]Of course, if you delete it, it will go away.

[00:02:55]But, here's the thing and I might be overreacting, but again, do Linux users really control their desktops?

[00:03:06]So, these defaults are imposed. It runs at login and creates folders in your arsenal.

[00:03:13]For the first time, this projects directory appears whether you want it or not. That's it.

[00:03:19]Okay, you can say no.

[00:03:22]You can delete it.

[00:03:24]And that's fine. You could delete the service if you want. You want to remove other folders and you don't want them to return. That is specific here.

[00:03:32]Your distro, of course, is the gatekeeper at the end of the day. They decide whether to ship it or not.

[00:03:38]Arch users, of course, got it almost immediately.

[00:03:42]Benefits do help everyone across the board. We're always saying that there needs to be some standards.

[00:03:49]However, it does feel like there's a little bit of tension. If we keep telling people that Linux is all about freedom and you have control, but the desktop experience is shaped by free desktop specs that land without a vote.

[00:04:05]I guess we have control, but you have to know that control exists. Probably a bunch of users will just see a new folder and assume it belongs there.

[00:04:16]So, it's not just about a folder, it's about who gets to decide your Linux desktop.

[00:04:23]Every time the XDG makes a specification, it makes it a little bit more coherent for newcomers, but it also tends to narrow what the Linux desktop can be at times. So, what I mean by that is again, if you don't want that type of thing automatically, you want to define your desktop, you're going to have to go and disable things.

[00:04:41]It was 12 years for one line of code, so this was obviously not about complexity, it was about a process.

[00:04:49]Like, why did it take 12 years?

[00:04:51]We have full control of Linux, but it seems like on the desktop these days you have to know you have that control and that it exists in the first place. Catches me, too.

[00:05:01]If you don't know about it, meh, it is what it is.

[00:05:05]I suppose there's a millions of users already created a projects folder manually, and standardizing it helps new users alike.

[00:05:14]So, of course, you can check yourself if you already have it. You can customize it just as I mentioned earlier, and you can either embrace the standard, customize it, or opt out entirely. The choice is yours, but of course, you have to know that choice exists.

[00:05:30]And FYI, flatpak apps can't use it at the moment. It still needs to be merged.

[00:05:35]So, do you think I'm being a little bit ridiculous?

[00:05:39]Do you think it's overboard, or do you think, "Hey, this is my desktop, and there are boundaries."? Again, maybe it starts small, but what does it grow into?

[00:05:51]Okay, folks, as always, thanks for watching and bye for now.