.. _folders: System Directories ****************** In this documentation we will repeatedly refer to three different directories that Gaia Sky uses to store data and configuration settings: ``$GS_DATA``, ``$GS_CONFIG`` and the dataset location, ``$data``. The locations of ``$GS_DATA`` and ``$GS_CONFIG`` depend on the operating system: - **Linux** -- as of version ``2.2.0``, the Linux release of Gaia Sky uses the `XDG base directory specification `__. - ``$GS_DATA`` = ``~/.local/share/gaiasky/`` - ``$GS_CONFIG`` = ``~/.config/gaiasky/`` - **Windows and macOS** -- in these systems, ``.gaiasky`` directory in the user home directory for both locations, so: - ``$GS_DATA`` = ``$GS_CONFIG`` = ``[User.Home]/.gaiasky/`` - ``[User.Home]`` on Windows is typically in ``C:\Users\[username]``. - ``[User.Home]`` on macOS is typically in ``/Users/[username]``. Dataset location ================ By default, Gaia Sky stores the downloaded datasets in the ``$GS_DATA/data`` directory. The location where the datasets are saved is referred to as ``$data``. The actual location of ``$data`` is stored in the configuration file (key ``data::location``) and can be changed in the dataset manager window at startup. - ``$data`` = ``$GS_DATA/data``