How to correctly set the XDG base dirs gobally and dynamically

Question

I get a lot of config folders in my homefolder. I assume that is, because $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set and some software (e.g. fontconfig, umlet) does not follow the standards.

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME defines the base directory relative to which user specific configuration files should be stored. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or empty, a default equal to $HOME/.config should be used.

Now since my distribution does not set it, I want to do it. Most of the internet comments recommend to write it in the bashrc. But I am the system administrator and want to do this for all users including future users, without introducing furture maintenance work.

This means I want to set it systemwide (globally) and since every new users should inherit it, it should be dynamically, using e.g. "$HOME/.config".

How can I solve this general problem in a reasonable way?

Answer 1

Insted of .bashrc put the setting line to /etc/profile. This file is loaded on every user login just like .bashrc is for a specific user. The bonus is this works for other shells and sessions as well.