When you start Emacs, it normally loads the file @file{.emacs} in your
home directory. This file, if it exists, should contain Lisp code. It
is called your initialization file or @dfn{init file}. Use the command
-line switches @samp{-q} and @samp{-u} to tell Emacs whether to load an
-init file (@pxref{Entering Emacs}).
-
-@vindex init-file-user
-When the @file{.emacs} file is read, the variable @code{init-file-user}
-says which user's init file it is. The value may be the null string or a
-string containing a user's name. If the value is a null string, it means
-that the init file was taken from the user that originally logged in.
-
-In all cases, @code{(concat "~" init-file-user "/")} evaluates to the
-directory name of the directory where the @file{.emacs} file was looked
-for.
+line switch @samp{-q} to tell Emacs whether to load an
+init file (@pxref{Entering Emacs}). Use the command line switch
+@samp{-user-init-file} (@pxref{Command Switches}) to tell Emacs to load
+a different file instead of @file{~/.emacs}.
+
+When the @file{.emacs} file is read, the variable @code{user-init-file}
+says which init file was loaded.
At some sites there is a @dfn{default init file}, which is the
library named @file{default.el}, found via the standard search path for