--- a/doc/interpreter/basics.txi	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/doc/interpreter/basics.txi	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -174,26 +174,37 @@
 @cindex @sortas{options, Octave command -H} @ @ @code{-H}
 Disable recording of command-line history.
 
-@item --no-init-file
-@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-init-file} @ @ @code{--no-init-file}
-@cindex @sortas{octaverc ~/.octaverc} @code{~/.octaverc}
-@cindex @sortas{octaverc .octaverc} @code{.octaverc}
-Don't read the initialization files @file{~/.octaverc} and @file{.octaverc}.
+@item  --no-init-all
+@itemx --norc
+@itemx -f
+@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-init-all} @ @ @code{--no-init-all}
+@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --norc} @ @ @code{--norc}
+@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command -f} @ @ @code{-f}
+Don't read any of the system or user initialization files at startup.
+This is equivalent to using both of the options @option{--no-site-file}
+and @option{--no-init-user}.
 
 @item --no-init-path
 @cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-init-path} @ @ @code{--no-init-path}
 Don't initialize the search path for function files to include default
 locations.
 
+@item --no-init-site
+@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-init-site} @ @ @code{--no-init-site}
+@cindex site startup file
+Don't read the site-wide @file{octaverc} initialization files.
+
+@item --no-init-user
+@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-init-user} @ @ @code{--no-init-user}
+@cindex @sortas{octaverc ~/.octaverc} @code{~/.octaverc}
+@cindex @sortas{octaverc .octaverc} @code{.octaverc}
+Don't read the user initialization files @file{~/.octaverc} and
+@file{.octaverc}.
+
 @item --no-line-editing
 @cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-line-editing} @ @ @code{--no-line-editing}
 Disable command-line editing.
 
-@item --no-site-file
-@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-site-file} @ @ @code{--no-site-file}
-@cindex site startup file
-Don't read the site-wide @file{octaverc} initialization files.
-
 @item  --no-window-system
 @itemx -W
 @cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --no-window-system} @ @ @code{--no-window-system}
@@ -201,14 +212,6 @@
 Disable use of a windowing system including graphics.  This forces a
 strictly terminal-only environment.
 
-@item  --norc
-@itemx -f
-@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --norc} @ @ @code{--norc}
-@cindex @sortas{options, Octave command -f} @ @ @code{-f}
-Don't read any of the system or user initialization files at startup.
-This is equivalent to using both of the options @option{--no-init-file}
-and @option{--no-site-file}.
-
 @item  --path @var{path}
 @itemx -p @var{path}
 @cindex @sortas{options, Octave command --path} @ @ @code{--path @var{path}}

--- a/etc/NEWS.10.md	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/etc/NEWS.10.md	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
   * `-g` for `--gui`
   * `-G` for `--no-gui`
 
+- Three long form options have been introduced for clarity.
+  * `--no-init-user` : Don't read user configuration files ~/.octaverc or
+    .octaverc files at startup.
+  * `--no-init-site` : Don't read site-wide configuration files at startup.
+  * `--no-init-all` : Don't read any configuration files at startup.
+
 ### Graphical User Interface
 
 ### Graphics backend

--- a/libinterp/corefcn/interpreter.cc	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/interpreter.cc	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@
     m_gh_manager (nullptr),
     m_interactive (false),
     m_read_site_files (true),
-    m_read_init_files (m_app_context != nullptr),
+    m_read_user_files (m_app_context != nullptr),
     m_init_trace (false),
     m_traditional (false),
     m_inhibit_startup_message (false),
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@
 interpreter::execute_startup_files ()
 {
   bool read_site_files = m_read_site_files;
-  bool read_init_files = m_read_init_files;
+  bool read_user_files = m_read_user_files;
   bool trace = m_init_trace;
   bool inhibit_startup_message = m_inhibit_startup_message;
 
@@ -1109,7 +1109,7 @@
       const cmdline_options& options = m_app_context->options ();
 
       read_site_files = options.read_site_files ();
-      read_init_files = options.read_init_files ();
+      read_user_files = options.read_user_files ();
       trace = options.init_trace ();
       inhibit_startup_message = options.inhibit_startup_message ();
     }
@@ -1142,7 +1142,7 @@
         exit_status = status;
     }
 
-  if (read_init_files)
+  if (read_user_files)
     {
       // Try to execute commands from the Matlab compatible startup.m file
       // if it exists anywhere in the load path when starting Octave.

--- a/libinterp/octave.cc	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/libinterp/octave.cc	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
           break;
 
         case 'f':
-          m_read_init_files = false;
+          m_read_user_files = false;
           m_read_site_files = false;
           break;
 
@@ -192,8 +192,8 @@
           m_forced_line_editing = m_line_editing = true;
           break;
 
-        case NO_INIT_FILE_OPTION:
-          m_read_init_files = false;
+        case NO_INIT_USER_OPTION:
+          m_read_user_files = false;
           break;
 
         case NO_INIT_PATH_OPTION:
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@
           m_line_editing = false;
           break;
 
-        case NO_SITE_FILE_OPTION:
+        case NO_INIT_SITE_OPTION:
           m_read_site_files = false;
           break;
 
@@ -256,7 +256,9 @@
   m.assign ("no_window_system", no_window_system ());
   m.assign ("persist", persist ());
   m.assign ("read_history_file", read_history_file ());
-  m.assign ("read_init_files", read_init_files ());
+  // FIXME: read_init_files deprecated in Octave 10 in favor of read_user_files
+  m.assign ("read_init_files", read_user_files ());
+  m.assign ("read_user_files", read_user_files ());
   m.assign ("read_site_files", read_site_files ());
   m.assign ("server", server ());
   m.assign ("set_initial_path", set_initial_path ());

--- a/libinterp/octave.h	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/libinterp/octave.h	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -67,8 +67,10 @@
   bool no_window_system () const { return m_no_window_system; }
   bool persist () const { return m_persist; }
   bool read_history_file () const { return m_read_history_file; }
-  bool read_init_files () const { return m_read_init_files; }
   bool read_site_files () const { return m_read_site_files; }
+  bool read_user_files () const { return m_read_user_files; }
+  OCTAVE_DEPRECATED (10, "cmdline_options::read_init_files is deprecated, use read_user_files")
+  bool read_init_files () const { return m_read_user_files; }
   bool server () const { return m_server; }
   bool set_initial_path () const { return m_set_initial_path; }
   bool traditional () const { return m_traditional; }
@@ -102,8 +104,12 @@
   void no_window_system (bool arg) { m_no_window_system = arg; }
   void persist (bool arg) { m_persist = arg; }
   void read_history_file (bool arg) { m_read_history_file = arg; }
-  void read_init_files (bool arg) { m_read_init_files = arg; }
+  // FIXME: Alias for read_user_files() introduced in Octave 10.
+  // Remove at some point in the future.
   void read_site_files (bool arg) { m_read_site_files = arg; }
+  void read_user_files (bool arg) { m_read_user_files = arg; }
+  OCTAVE_DEPRECATED (10, "cmdline_options::read_init_files is deprecated, use read_user_files")
+  void read_init_files (bool arg) { read_user_files (arg); }
   void server (bool arg) { m_server = arg; }
   void set_initial_path (bool arg) { m_set_initial_path = arg; }
   void traditional (bool arg) { m_traditional = arg; }
@@ -168,11 +174,11 @@
   bool m_read_history_file = true;
 
   // TRUE means we read ~/.octaverc and ./.octaverc.
-  // (--norc; --no-init-file; -f)
-  bool m_read_init_files = true;
+  // (--no-init-user; --no-init-file; --norc; -f)
+  bool m_read_user_files = true;
 
   // TRUE means we read the site-wide octaverc files.
-  // (--norc; --no-site-file; -f)
+  // (--no-init-site; --no-site-file; --norc; -f)
   bool m_read_site_files = true;
 
   // If TRUE, start the command server.

--- a/libinterp/options.h	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/libinterp/options.h	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@
 #define INFO_PROG_OPTION 7
 #define LINE_EDITING_OPTION 8
 #define NO_GUI_LIBS_OPTION 9
-#define NO_INIT_FILE_OPTION 10
+#define NO_INIT_USER_OPTION 10
 #define NO_INIT_PATH_OPTION 11
 #define NO_LINE_EDITING_OPTION 12
-#define NO_SITE_FILE_OPTION 13
+#define NO_INIT_SITE_OPTION 13
 #define PERSIST_OPTION 14
 #define SERVER_OPTION 15
 #define TEXI_MACROS_FILE_OPTION 16
@@ -89,10 +89,15 @@
   // Option for developers, not displayed in help
   { "no-gui-libs",              octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_GUI_LIBS_OPTION },
   { "no-history",               octave_no_arg,       nullptr, 'H' },
-  { "no-init-file",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_FILE_OPTION },
+  { "no-init-all",              octave_no_arg,       nullptr, 'f' },
+  // Alias for --no-init-user, not displayed in help
+  { "no-init-file",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_USER_OPTION },
   { "no-init-path",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_PATH_OPTION },
+  { "no-init-user",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_PATH_OPTION },
   { "no-line-editing",          octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_LINE_EDITING_OPTION },
-  { "no-site-file",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_SITE_FILE_OPTION },
+  { "no-init-site",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_SITE_OPTION },
+  // Alias for --no-init-site, not displayed in help
+  { "no-site-file",             octave_no_arg,       nullptr, NO_INIT_SITE_OPTION },
   { "no-window-system",         octave_no_arg,       nullptr, 'W' },
   { "norc",                     octave_no_arg,       nullptr, 'f' },
   { "path",                     octave_required_arg, nullptr, 'p' },

--- a/libinterp/usage.h	Tue Jan 02 13:42:37 2024 -0800
+++ b/libinterp/usage.h	Tue Jan 02 16:12:16 2024 -0800
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@
 static const char *usage_string =
   "octave [-GHVWefghiqvx] [--echo-commands] [--eval CODE]\n\
        [--experimental-terminal-widget] [--gui] [--help] [--interactive]\n\
-       [--line-editing] [--no-gui] [--no-history] [--no-init-file]\n\
-       [--no-init-path] [--no-line-editing] [--no-site-file]\n\
-       [--no-window-system] [--norc] [--path path] [--persist] [--server]\n\
-       [--silent] [--traditional] [--version] [file]";
+       [--line-editing] [--no-gui] [--no-history] [--no-init-all]\n\
+       [--no-init-path] [--no-init-site] [--no-init-user]\n\
+       [--no-line-editing] [--no-window-system] [--path path] [--persist]\n\
+       [--server] [--silent] [--traditional] [--version] [file]";
 
 // Usage message with extra help.
 
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@
   --line-editing          Force readline use for command-line editing.\n\
   --no-gui, -G            Disable the graphical user interface.\n\
   --no-history, -H        Don't save commands to the history list\n\
-  --no-init-file          Don't read the ~/.octaverc or .octaverc files.\n\
+  --no-init-all, --norc, -f\n\
+                          Don't read any initialization files.\n\
   --no-init-path          Don't initialize function search path.\n\
+  --no-init-site          Don't read the site-wide octaverc files.\n\
+  --no-init-user          Don't read the ~/.octaverc or .octaverc files.\n\
   --no-line-editing       Don't use readline for command-line editing.\n\
-  --no-site-file          Don't read the site-wide octaverc file.\n\
   --no-window-system, -W  Disable window system, including graphics.\n\
-  --norc, -f              Don't read any initialization files.\n\
   --path PATH, -p PATH    Add PATH to head of function search path.\n\
   --persist               Go interactive after --eval or reading from FILE.\n\
   --server                Enter server mode at startup.\n\