Everything that uses configuration files should report where they're located

ono@lemmy.ca to Programming@beehaw.org – 30 points –
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Obligatory mention for those who don't know yet : you can find what files a program use by using strace <command> (provided strace is installed). It actually logs all syscalls made by the program, so there will be a lot of noise, but in there you will find the access() and open() calls.

Additionally, if you want to strace programs that already are running in a convenient interface, htop has strace support (this is less useful to find configuration files, as those are usually read at the start of the program, but if you can trigger a save to the file, it will appear here).

Wow! I did not know about htop's built in support. That's awesome to know about, thanks!

Yeah, it's easy to miss. :) I think it's been there for something like about 5 years? (don't quote me on that). But it only appears if strace is available, and even then it's a bit hidden in the interface. I discovered it the way I learn new features in vim : by mistyping.