This matter has been long debated within Mame packagers, and has finally been agreed that:
- configuration and runtime files and subdirectories must lie in the hidden directory ~/.mame. The reason is that the user doesn't need to see them though he/she may like to (e.g. to share the snapshot taken, or the savestate files etc.)
- resource files and subdirectories must lie in the non-hidden directory ~/mame. The reason is that the user can easily place there any personal needed file (let me stress the fact that only a limited number of roms are legally available for free, the vast majority requires owning a licence or the original PCB and can _not_ be distributed)
- the user can override these rules at will in a personal ~/.mame/mame.ini file, or editing /etc/mame.ini at his/her convenience
>> For resource files (roms, samples etc.) a subdirectory is more appropriate.
> I think you meant a non-hidden directory as a subdirectory could also take place in "$HOME/.mame".
Yes, of course. :)
I'm sorry, I should have checked twice before posting.
> If the user does show the .mame folder by default, she can as well move her roms
> to .mame and only have .mame in the config file.
This can be easily accomplished by copying /etc/mame in ~/.mame/ and tweaking it
> For the sake of simplicity, there should only be one ROM's path
Definitely, referring to the user personal files. In /etc/mame.ini there are many concatenated paths to manage files distributed in the package (e.g. artworks) and still allow usage of personal resource files of the same type.
This matter has been long debated within Mame packagers, and has finally been agreed that:
- configuration and runtime files and subdirectories must lie in the hidden directory ~/.mame. The reason is that the user doesn't need to see them though he/she may like to (e.g. to share the snapshot taken, or the savestate files etc.)
- resource files and subdirectories must lie in the non-hidden directory ~/mame. The reason is that the user can easily place there any personal needed file (let me stress the fact that only a limited number of roms are legally available for free, the vast majority requires owning a licence or the original PCB and can _not_ be distributed)
- the user can override these rules at will in a personal ~/.mame/mame.ini file, or editing /etc/mame.ini at his/her convenience
>> For resource files (roms, samples etc.) a subdirectory is more appropriate.
> I think you meant a non-hidden directory as a subdirectory could also take place in "$HOME/.mame".
Yes, of course. :)
I'm sorry, I should have checked twice before posting.
> If the user does show the .mame folder by default, she can as well move her roms
> to .mame and only have .mame in the config file.
This can be easily accomplished by copying /etc/mame in ~/.mame/ and tweaking it
> For the sake of simplicity, there should only be one ROM's path
Definitely, referring to the user personal files. In /etc/mame.ini there are many concatenated paths to manage files distributed in the package (e.g. artworks) and still allow usage of personal resource files of the same type.