Use platform defined data directories instead of ~/.python_history

[86c43416-f4df-473d-aaf4-adedf5b2c460]

BPO	44239
Nosy	@oxalica
PRs	python/cpython#26377

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields: ```python assignee = None closed_at = None created_at = labels = ['type-feature', 'library', '3.11'] title = 'Use platform defined data directories instead of ~/.python_history' updated_at = user = 'https://github.com/oxalica' ``` bugs.python.org fields: ```python activity = actor = 'python-dev' assignee = 'none' closed = False closed_date = None closer = None components = ['Library (Lib)'] creation = creator = 'oxalica' dependencies = [] files = [] hgrepos = [] issue_num = 44239 keywords = ['patch'] message_count = 1.0 messages = ['394429'] nosy_count = 2.0 nosy_names = ['python-dev', 'oxalica'] pr_nums = ['26377'] priority = 'normal' resolution = None stage = 'patch review' status = 'open' superseder = None type = 'enhancement' url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue44239' versions = ['Python 3.11'] ```

[86c43416-f4df-473d-aaf4-adedf5b2c460]

Currently we use path ~/.python_history for history file in all platforms. It is not a good choice since it spams in user's home directory.

There are already specifications for where to store program data. For Windows, we should use %APPDATA%/Python/history; for Mac OS, we should use ~/Library/Application Support/Python/history; for other POSIX platforms, we should use $XDG_DATA_HOME/python/history or ~/.local/share/python/history according to XDG Spec.

These paths should be preferred as default. But we can also check and use ~/.python_history if it exists and readable, for compatibility.

[Igetin]

for other POSIX platforms, we should use $XDG_DATA_HOME/python/history or ~/.local/share/python/history according to XDG Spec.

The specification actually received an amendment on the very month this message was originally posted. It now additionally specifies $XDG_STATE_HOME, which should be the way to go here instead of $XDG_DATA_HOME:

The $XDG_STATE_HOME contains state data that should persist between (application) restarts, but that is not important or portable enough to the user that it should be stored in $XDG_DATA_HOME. It may contain:

• actions history (logs, history, recently used files, …)
• current state of the application that can be reused on a restart (view, layout, open files, undo history, …)

[hauntsaninja]

Note that we merged https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/73965 , so the location of this file can now be controlled by PYTHON_HISTORY

[returnDanilo]

If this is ever to be merged, maybe you could add something about pdb's ~/.pdbrc file? ;)