Evolution stores its configuration in at least three places, ~/.evolution
~/.gconf/apps/evolution and ~/.gnome2_private/Evolution  As a result, there's no
single directory that can be backed up and restored to get a functioning
application.  

.gconf has occasionally been known to become corrupt, and users must then sort
out which bits of that directory tree are still good and which are not.  In my
case, fixing a problem with the gnome desktop itself, because I wasn't careful,
trashed my evolution configuration.  I removed my .gconf directory so I could
login, forgetting that evolution stored its data there.  Fortunately, I had a
backup.  

I don't want to sound religious about this, and I understand the value of a
registry for presenting an integrated desktop environment, but I think evolution
and Gnome generally are falling into the registry trap that made Windows so
difficult to recover from faults.  I don't want to see Gnome become an
environment where, "Reinstall the box" is the only solution.  

There has to be a way to get the benefits of a registry while preserving the
*nix mantra of "one directory per application".  

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