Let me just add a pointer to bug #394687 (g_get_home_dir documentation confusing) -- http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=394687 The gist is that apparently g_get_home_dir works as it does in order to get the right behavior when a program is run as a different user. Since this will very rarely happen with Gimp, it may be okay to use a different logic.