If you are using a rolling release distro like Arch, you might have noticed that your home directory now has a new member, a new folder called "Projects".
For as long as I remember, Linux has always had a set of default folders under the home directory. Usually they are Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos and Downloads. Templates, Desktop and Public folders are also there.
Now we have a new addition in the form of "Projects".
Projects directory for your ...well...projects
The purpose of the Projects directory is simple. It gives you a place to keep your project files, the kind of files that do not necessarily go in Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos. For example, your coding projects, your 3D printing and CAD projects etc.
Why it is more than 'just another directory'
The addition of a standard Projects directory is not just about keeping your home folder organized. It has bigger implications.
For starters, it gives applications a predictable place to store project-related files. Just like image-related apps often default to the Pictures folder and video tools save into Videos, development tools, CAD software, hardware design suites applications could use Projects as their natural default.
This can also improve interoperability between tools. An IDE could offer to create repositories in Projects by default. Build tools could assume a sensible project workspace, and installation guides or README instructions could refer to a common location instead of telling users to create arbitrary folders like ~/dev, ~/code, or ~/projects.
Sandboxed applications such as Flatpak apps may also benefit because a standardized location is easier to recognize and grant permissions for.
Not to forget, backup tools, synchronization services could treat the Projects directory as a meaningful category of data, same as Documents or Pictures.
In other words, this is not 'just another directory'. It provides better desktop workflows. A small standardization like this may quietly improve usability across the Linux desktop over time.
This was an 11-year-old "request"
And interestingly, this isn’t a brand new idea. The concept has existed for over a decade.
Actually, the request to include a standard Projects directory was created in 2014. The reasoning from the original request still holds up today:
Currently XDG user dirs does not specify a directory for environments of projects. For software projects these usually include source code, version control, compiled binaries, test artefacts and downloaded dependencies. As they are much more than downloads and usually kept indefinitely, they do not fit in there. The benefit of defining a projects folder would be that when writing a README or install script for a project, one could automatically download the source to the user defined location, set up the build environment and install from there.
Like several instances in the recent past, GNOME/Freedesktop/KDE are paying attention to decades-old requests and implementing some of them.
Power users, who want more control, can edit the
~/.config/user-dirs.dirs configuration file and modify it to control what goes where.The road ahead for this change
This new standard directory change came with the release of xdg-user-dirs version 0.20. As I mentioned earlier, people using rolling release distros might already have this change. You can see a screenshot of EndeavorOS:
As GNOME contributor Matthias notes, support for GLib will be added in the coming months so that Flatpak, desktops and applications can make use of the Projects directory.
I am looking forward to it. You?
I have always created a dev directory in my home directory. This is where my coding related project files are located. It's better than keeping them under Documents because technically, these are not documents.
I think that I am not the only one who does this. I guess most of us have a projects or dev directory under Home.
Including a standard Projects directory is a good move. Not only does it remove the guesswork about where to keep such files, various applications can also take advantage of this new directory.
It may look like a small addition, but standardizing something many Linux users already do can improve workflows, application behavior, and even documentation over time. For a simple extra folder, “Projects” could have surprisingly large impact.
