Comment 2 for bug 129298

I would suggest that plugins are neither settings nor configuration files, and while plugins are currently distributed as source, there's no reason they could not be distributed as .pyc files, so that they weren't even auto-generated. (And further, they're not even auto-generated by bazaar, but by Python.) Since it would be the installer creating the Plugins directory, I believe that the uninstaller should feel free to blow away anything in it when uninstalling.

As I mentioned in my original case, having Firefox and Thunderbird put extensions in %USERNAME% specific locations is quite annoying to me.

The C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\bazaar\2.0\plugins directory is less annoying, but I still feel that it's not really the correct solution. (Although I acknowledge that you have a good reason for suggesting it, plugins still feel to me less like configuration, and more like application code, and should therefore live with the rest of the application code.)

(As a third option, what about storing them in C:\progra~1\Common Files\Bazaar\Plugins? There seems to be a bunch of other Vendor-ish stuff there...)

On the next topic, please tell me that I, as the user, can select where I want to install Mercurial. I have a real beef with programs that think they need to live at the root of my drive. Honestly, they're not that important. They can live in Program Files, or Program Files\Version Control, or however I've set up my box. :P

Finally, I'ld like to offer the example of Windows Media Player, which has various things that can be plugged into it.
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player>dir /ad
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is ****-****

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player

06/07/2007 10:25 AM <DIR> .
06/07/2007 10:25 AM <DIR> ..
03/07/2007 02:56 PM <DIR> Icons
06/07/2007 10:25 AM <DIR> Network Sharing
03/07/2007 02:53 PM <DIR> Sample Playlists
03/07/2007 02:53 PM <DIR> Skins
03/07/2007 02:56 PM <DIR> Visualizations

Now, I think we can both agree that Icons, Skins, and Visualizations are, if anything, less like application code than Plugins. And therefore, if Microsoft thinks it's okay to store Icons, Skins, and Visualizations in a subdirectory of Program Files, Bazaar shouldn't have any conceptual problems storing Plugins there as well.

Heck even Internet Explorer puts plugins in it's Program Files directory...

C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer>dir /ad
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is ****-****

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer

04/07/2007 10:08 AM <DIR> .
04/07/2007 10:08 AM <DIR> ..
03/07/2007 02:53 PM <DIR> Connection Wizard
03/07/2007 04:36 PM <DIR> en-US
03/07/2007 04:13 PM <DIR> MUI
13/07/2007 03:38 PM <DIR> PLUGINS
04/07/2007 12:58 PM <DIR> SIGNUP

Have I produced enough examples to change your mind yet?