diff -Nru geg-1.0.2/src/app.c geg-1.0.2.new/src/app.c
--- geg-1.0.2/src/app.c	Tue Nov 23 23:33:56 1999
+++ geg-1.0.2.new/src/app.c	Sat Mar 29 12:50:15 2003
@@ -114,9 +114,16 @@
 parse_rcfile(void)
 {
   char rc_file[256];
+  char *etc_dir = getenv("ETC_DIR");
+
   /* load preferences */
-  strncpy(rc_file, getenv("HOME"), 248);
-  strcat(rc_file, "/.gegrc");
+  if (etc_dir) {
+    strncpy(rc_file, etc_dir, 248);
+    strcat(rc_file, "/gegrc");
+  } else {
+    strncpy(rc_file, getenv("HOME"), 248);
+    strcat(rc_file, "/.gegrc");
+  }
   prefs_rc_parse(rc_file);
 }