--- irssi-0.8.6.orig/src/core/core.c	2002-10-19 20:00:06.000000000 +0200
+++ irssi-0.8.6/src/core/core.c	2003-11-09 12:46:25.000000000 +0100
@@ -193,7 +193,9 @@
 	args_register(options);
 
 	if (irssi_dir == NULL) {
-		home = g_get_home_dir();
+		home = getenv("HOME_ETC");
+		if (home == NULL)
+			home = g_get_home_dir();
 		if (home == NULL)
 			home = ".";

--- irssi-0.8.11/src/core/log-away.c.orig	2007-04-25 20:13:56.000000000 +0200
+++ irssi-0.8.11/src/core/log-away.c	2007-06-07 01:31:08.951362144 +0200
@@ -105,7 +105,12 @@
 	away_msgs = 0;
 
 	awaylog_file = g_strconcat(get_irssi_dir(), "/away.log", NULL);
-	settings_add_str("log", "awaylog_file", awaylog_file);
+	char *home_etc = getenv("HOME_ETC");
+	if (home_etc) {
+		char *log = g_strdup_printf("%s/.irssi/away.log", home_etc);
+		settings_add_str("log", "awaylog_file", log);
+	} else
+		settings_add_str("log", "awaylog_file", awaylog_file);
 	g_free(awaylog_file);
 	settings_add_level("log", "awaylog_level", "msgs hilight");