howto store configs in /etc ?

[Christian Schäfer <caefer_(_at_)_krachstoff_(_dot_)_net>]

hi again! ;-)

is there a standard unix way how to store global config files of an 
application in /etc?

do I need certain systemwide variables or is the path hardcoded everytime?

AND (to stop simple questions like this on :) do you happen to know 
where one could read about such issues (web or book) ?


thanks in advance!
/christian