location of the configuration files

The debate on the configuration file sparked a memory of an old patch I
submitted in 7.1 days.

One of the things I do not like about PostgreSQL is, IMHO, is a
backwards configuration process. Rather than specify a data directory,
the administrator should specify a database configuration file. Within
the configuration file is the location and names of the data directory
and other information. Most admins want a central location for this
information.

One of the things that is frustrating to me, is to have to hunt down
where the data directory is so that I can administrate a DB. It can be
anywhere, in any directory on any volume. If you had, say, a
/usr/local/pgsql/admin, then you could have mydb.conf which could then
be checked in to CVS. A standard location for configuration files is a
more normal process as the location of the data directory is less so. I
just don't think the PG data directory should not contain configuration
information.

The original patch allowed a user to specify the location of the
postgresql.conf file, rather than assuming it lived in $PGDATA
Also included in that patch, was the ability to specify the location of
the PGDATA directory as well as the names of the pg_hba.conf and other
configuration files.

It also allowed the user to use PG as it has always worked, The patch
was not applied because a better solution was supposedly coming, but
that was two major revisions ago. I would still like to see this
functionality. Would anyone else?