diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index 1d30ba69aeaa..000000000000
--- a/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,126 +0,0 @@
-#########################################
-# OS-specific temporary and backup files
-.DS_Store
-
-#########################################
-# Editor temporary/working/backup files #
-.#*
-[#]*#
-*~
-*$
-*.bak
-*.kdev4
-.project
-.pydevproject
-*.swp
-.idea
-.vscode/
-
-# Compiled source #
-###################
-*.a
-*.com
-*.class
-*.dll
-*.exe
-*.o
-*.py[ocd]
-*.so
-
-# Python files #
-################
-# meson-python working directory
-build
-.mesonpy*
-
-# meson-python/build frontend dist directory
-dist
-# Egg metadata
-*.egg-info
-.eggs
-# wheel metadata
-pip-wheel-metadata/*
-# tox testing tool
-.tox
-# build subproject files
-subprojects/*/
-!subprojects/packagefiles/
-
-# OS generated files #
-######################
-.directory
-.gdb_history
-.DS_Store?
-ehthumbs.db
-Icon?
-Thumbs.db
-
-# Things specific to this project #
-###################################
-galleries/tutorials/intermediate/CL01.png
-galleries/tutorials/intermediate/CL02.png
-
-# Documentation generated files #
-#################################
-# sphinx build directory
-doc/_build
-doc/api/_as_gen
-# autogenerated by sphinx-gallery
-doc/examples
-doc/gallery
-doc/modules
-doc/plot_types
-doc/pyplots/tex_demo.png
-doc/tutorials
-doc/users/explain
-lib/dateutil
-galleries/examples/*/*.bmp
-galleries/examples/*/*.eps
-galleries/examples/*/*.pdf
-galleries/examples/*/*.png
-galleries/examples/*/*.svg
-galleries/examples/*/*.svgz
-result_images
-doc/_static/constrained_layout*.png
-doc/.mpl_skip_subdirs.yaml
-doc/_tags
-sg_execution_times.rst
-
-# Nose/Pytest generated files #
-###############################
-.pytest_cache/
-.cache/
-.coverage
-.coverage.*
-*.py,cover
-cover/
-.noseids
-__pycache__
-
-# Conda files #
-###############
-__conda_version__.txt
-lib/png.lib
-lib/z.lib
-
-# Environments #
-################
-.env
-.venv
-env/
-venv/
-ENV/
-env.bak/
-venv.bak/
-
-# Jupyter files #
-#################
-
-.ipynb_checkpoints/
-
-# Vendored dependencies #
-#########################
-lib/matplotlib/backends/web_backend/node_modules/
-lib/matplotlib/backends/web_backend/package-lock.json
-
-LICENSE/LICENSE_QHULL
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc
index 72117abf7317..eda5679116bc 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc
@@ -420,6 +420,11 @@
 #axes.spines.top:    True
 #axes.spines.right:  True
 
+#axes.spines.left.position:   outward, 0.0 # set (outward, axes, data) position
+#axes.spines.bottom.position: outward, 0.0
+#axes.spines.top.position:    outward, 0.0
+#axes.spines.right.position:  outward, 0.0
+
 #axes.unicode_minus: True  # use Unicode for the minus symbol rather than hyphen.  See
                            # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_and_minus_signs#Character_codes
 #axes.prop_cycle: cycler(color='tab10')
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
index 6cba66076ac7..f85905e90041 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/mpl-data/stylelib/classic.mplstyle
@@ -215,6 +215,11 @@ axes.prop_cycle    : cycler('color', 'bgrcmyk')
                                            # as list of string colorspecs:
                                            # single letter, long name, or
                                            # web-style hex
+axes.spines.bottom.position: outward, 0.0
+axes.spines.left.position:   outward, 0.0
+axes.spines.right.position:  outward, 0.0
+axes.spines.top.position:    outward, 0.0
+
 axes.autolimit_mode : round_numbers
 axes.xmargin        : 0  # x margin.  See `axes.Axes.margins`
 axes.ymargin        : 0  # y margin See `axes.Axes.margins`
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
index ce29c5076100..b183cc12d176 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py
@@ -1108,6 +1108,11 @@ def _convert_validator_spec(key, conv):
     "axes.spines.bottom":    validate_bool,  # denoting data boundary.
     "axes.spines.top":       validate_bool,
 
+    "axes.spines.left.position":      validate_anylist,
+    "axes.spines.right.position":     validate_anylist,
+    "axes.spines.bottom.position":    validate_anylist,
+    "axes.spines.top.position":       validate_anylist,
+
     "axes.titlesize":     validate_fontsize,  # Axes title fontsize
     "axes.titlelocation": ["left", "center", "right"],  # Axes title alignment
     "axes.titleweight":   validate_fontweight,  # Axes title font weight
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/spines.py b/lib/matplotlib/spines.py
index 7e77a393f2a2..d9bdb8f98aed 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/spines.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/spines.py
@@ -202,8 +202,12 @@ def get_path(self):
 
     def _ensure_position_is_set(self):
         if self._position is None:
-            # default position
-            self._position = ('outward', 0.0)  # in points
+            # default position in points
+            default_pos = mpl.rcParams[f'axes.spines.{self.spine_type}.position']
+            if len(default_pos) == 1:
+                self._position = default_pos[0]
+            else:
+                self._position = [default_pos[0], float(default_pos[1])]
             self.set_position(self._position)
 
     def register_axis(self, axis):
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dc951375bba2..9fa2523a461b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ requires = [
 
 [tool.meson-python.args]
 install = ['--tags=data,python-runtime,runtime']
+setup = ['--vsenv']
 
 [tool.setuptools_scm]
 version_scheme = "release-branch-semver"