/etc/skel purpose?

[bigpcman]

Several threads mention "/etc/skel" containing the changed update files from one release to another. Is this the purpose of "etc/skel" or is there a "bigger" purpose?

[robc]

/etc/skel contains the base user home files. Upon boot the contents of /etc/skel are copied over to $HOME (/home/tc for user tc)

[bigpcman]

So I take it Juanito's  response is not entirely accurate in the thread quoted below.

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=2822.0#quickreply

Here's a suggestion that I hope will be easy for Robert to accept and helpful to others if he does.

Often when a new version of TC/MC is released, it comes with a note about files that have changed in the new release that might conflict with older versions in users' backups. I use grub to boot TC, so I update TC simply by replacing the file 'tinycore.gz' in my boot directory with the new one. (Of course I check that the new kernel matches the previous kernel, too.) When I boot the new version, the material in my backup overwrites the new and improved files just as the release announcement warns. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to take advantage of the invitation to use the fresh ones. There are probably several ways to access the new files, but here's a simple idea that could beat them all. Could the updated files mentioned in the release announcement be made available for direct download? Maybe they could even be supplied as attachments to the announcement itself in the forums. This change in standard operating procedure shouldn't be too onerous: the developer has a copy of the files on a working new system, and the files involved are usually few in number and small in size.

Thank you Robert and Team TC for your ongoing work. I'm still loving it.

The updated files are in /etc/skel - you could just boot as normal and then copy them across?

[jpeters]

The files in backup will override those in /etc/skel/ (for good reason).  The new files don't contain your settings, like for jwm_keys, and don't necessarily work. /etc/skel/.xsession results in a big "X", probably because the tests don't work correctly on my setup for some reason.  

edit: /etc/skel/.xsession needs   "DESKTOP=`/etc/sysconfig/desk`"   On my copy, it also works better if I use if/thens.     

[roberts]

Apparently your exports are not working. diff your .profile with /etc/skel/.profile

[jpeters]

Apparently your exports are not working. diff your .profile with /etc/skel/.profile

ah.....there they are.  Now it works!   Thanks.

[mikshaw]

You could think of /etc/skel as a template.  When you create a new user, the files in that directory are used to create the new user's $HOME.  After that point the files in /etc/skel are not used for much. If you accidentally delete or corrupt one of the files that was originally in $HOME you can copy a new one from /etc/skel.