Picard.conf not purged when package completely removed via Synaptic

[clubsoda]

Binary package hint: picard

Picard wasn't working and I suspected the configuration file was corrupt due to excessive trial-and-error. However, it was not possible to restore the original configuration even by "completely removing" and reinstalling picard using the Synaptic package manager.

Later I learned that the settings are stored in ~/.config/MusicBrainz/Picard.conf. Perhaps deleting that file would have been an easier approach(?)

The problem turned out to be the Server Address which was http://musicbrainz.org/ instead of just musicbrainz.org.

A "restore defaults" button in the options tab would be nice...

[Philipp Wolfer (phw)]

Packages should not delete personal configuration settings on uninstallation. This would be very bad behaviour.

The suggested "restore defaults" button could be useful, there is already an upstream feature request for this (see linked bug above).

[clubsoda (clubsoda)]

Thanks for your reply. It was my misconception that I could restore the default settings through Synaptic but evidently this is not possible. The development of a button to clear out any erroneous settings would be good but only fixes the problem in the case of picard. Surely numerous other packages are affected by the retention of old or bad data in one's /home profile(?)
Thanks again for alerting me to this important point.

[Sebastian Ramacher (s-ramacher)]

$HOME is off limits when purging packages.