Ask HN: It's time for a `.config` path in repos

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  • dbt-core

    dbt enables data analysts and engineers to transform their data using the same practices that software engineers use to build applications.

    As the number of tools built for repos increases, the roots of repos are becoming increasingly cluttered.

    A repo like dbt-labs/dbt-core [0] has 21 files in its root, almost all config files like `Makefile`, `Dockerfile.test`, `pyproject.toml`.

    GitHub's structure — showing the full file listing before the Readme — means that this clutter adds a small tax to browsing repos. Those 21 files appear below 14 directories, so it's 2+ screens before we can see the readme.

    Would folks support a standard path for config files, like a `.config` path, similar to the XDG default? Tools would look there in addition to the root of the repo, and so we could move many of those config files out of the root.

    If there were support: I'm not sure of the best way of organizing this. Maybe a few tools start embracing the standard, and others follow? Or we have a "arewedotconfigyet.com" site? Does putting a config file in the root help the marketing of tools, such that tools are less incentivized to do this?

    [0]: https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core

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