XDG Base Directory Specification Usage

Unix-like systems have traditionally lacked a standard way to store application or user data on a per-user basis. Consequently these data are often stored in an ad-hoc, inconsistent, and problematic way in "dot files" of the user's home directory.

freedesktop.org therefore issued a recommended solution for this problem.

Several applications (such as accerciser, baobab, epiphany, gconf, gdm, gnome-desktop, gnome-keyring, gnome-tweak-tool, gthumb, gtk+, jhbuild, libgnomekbd, mutter, nautilus, and planner) provide improved cross-desktop compatibility in GNOME 3.6 by inheriting the freedesktop.org directory specification.