1.6.1 File Format

By default, the configuration file is called GNUstep.conf; it typically exists in /etc/GNUstep or /usr/local/etc/GNUstep (depending on how gnustep-make was configured) on a Unix-like system. This file is in a format suitable for being ’sourced’ by the standard unix (Bourne) shell, consisting of lines of the form key=value, comments (everything on a line from the first hash (#) onwards), or blank lines.

This is very convenient on unix-like systems, but needs care for windows users. If a value contains whitespace or backslash characters (or the hash which would start a comment) it needs to be quoted by enclosing the whole value in single or double quotes. An alternative for values containing backslashes (the norm for a windows path) is to double up each backslash in an unquoted value.

The valid values for the keys in the GNUstep configuration file are documented in the GNUstep.conf file itself. Please check the GNUstep.conf.in file in your gnustep-make distribution for an up-to-date list of all the variables that you can change with explanations of what they do.