Re: [Bug-apl] .apl.history

[David B. Lamkins]

While I agree that $HOME/.apl-history is more generally useful, I can
also make a case for having the history file's location be relative to
the working directory:

Assume that you're a consultant or contractor working on APL projects
for a number of clients. You cd to the directory for a client's project,
start up APL, and do your work for that client. The history file remains
specific to that client/directory, which is probably what you'd prefer
in that situation.

Here's my proposal...

Have the installer and the Makefile's install target do the following:
  1. Confirm that $HOME exists.
  2. Install $HOME/.gnu-apl/preferences from the template.
  3. Edit the user's preference file to set READLINE_HISTORY_PATH using
the absolute path to $HOME.

This should address Blake's concern about keeping the installation
process simple, provide what (I think) is the more useful general case
while not precluding other choices, and have a reasonable fallback on
platforms that don't set $HOME.