Static files get deployed from STATICFILES_DIRS, but not STATIC_ROOT - django

Question

I have problems with deploying files in my development environment.
See my configuration below.
python manage.py collectstatic collects all files from '/Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/media/' as expected and stores them at /Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/mydjangoproject/static/.
But although the links to the css files are correct when using <link href="{% static "css/style.css"%}" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> (rendered as <link href="/staticmedia/css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">), the originals files at /Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/media/ will be deployed, not from the STATIC_ROOT /Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/mydjangoproject/static/.
Even if I delete the files that are in /Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/media/.
Where is my misconfiguration?
settings.py
MEDIA_ROOT = '/Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/mydjangoproject/media/'
MEDIA_URL = '/sitemedia/'
STATIC_ROOT = '/Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/mydjangoproject/static/'
STATIC_URL = '/staticmedia/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
'/Users/vikingosegundo/Projects/website/media/',
]
STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
)
TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
'django.core.context_processors.debug',
'django.core.context_processors.i18n',
'django.core.context_processors.media',
'django.core.context_processors.static',
)
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.sites',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
#....
)

Answer 1

I think, this is because the serving of static files using the django build-in views and helpers is intended for development and debugging purposes only. When DEBUG is True in your project settings, your static files are served from their original location. This helps to avoid being forced to run the collectstatics management command every time you for example change your CSS files.
When you switch your DEBUG setting off, django.conf.urls.static.static and its cousins helpers will stop working, since they are intended for development purposes only. Still, the template tags will work, since they must point to the correct static file urls in either production or development.
Running the collectstatic management command is a convenient helper for copying your static files to their final destination (STATIC_URL), where serving them in a production environment is your own responsibility. This is best done by an (static) web server location (avoiding pumping them through the django/python process), and thus Django's docs explicitly recommend to not use Django for static file serving.
See Managing static files: Serving static files in development for more about serving static files in development.