The Lua addon files usually contain something along these lines:
Code
defaults = {}
defaults.Text = 'Something'
defaults.SomeMode = true
defaults.Position = {}
defaults.Position.X = 30
defaults.Position.Y = 620
settings = config.load(defaults)
Most addons give users the ability to adjust the settings. They do so by either generating an XML file in the Windower/addons/<addon>/data/ folder (called settings.xml) or by implementing a command handler so people can adjust settings in-game via the chat log.
To create that settings file it uses the default values. Once the settings.xml file is created it ignores the default values and only looks inside the file, that's why changing the defaults is useless at that point. The only use default values have after that is if you, for whatever reason, delete some settings, then they will be recreated the next time you load the addon.
Changing it in the Lua file is a bad idea for various reasons. Most importantly, it would reset every time the file is updated and you'd have to change your settings all over again.
Note that not all addons use this method, but most do. The MacroChanger addon apparently creates a settings.txt file in the data/ folder, which does essentially the same thing, only a bit worse.
Quetzalcoatl.Freddles said:
»Also, does the update addon used to update from the server for new versions, or for changes we made in the files ourselves?
The former.