It turns out that Ubuntu carries a patch for sudo that Debian doesn't: see keep_home_by_default.patch [1]. See also the changelog [2], somewhere in item 72. So I think one should ask the Ubuntu maintainer of sudo what the motivation for this patch is. And if there is no strong reason for it, ask him to drop it. That would solve this issue.
[1] https://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/wily/sudo/wily-proposed/files/head:/debian/patches/ [2] https://code.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/wily/sudo/wily -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1471459 Title: First run of nano creates a directory in $HOME, if run as sudo will be root owned To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/1471459/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
