Cameron Patrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: [...]
> A standard like .desktop or the Debian menu system we have now /is/ a > good thing; we also need a way to make those menu hierarchies available > to applications which cannot and will not read them directly (hence the > "weird formats" that I mentioned). Currently, freedesktop provides the > former but not the latter, so in order for freedesktop's scheme to be > considered as a replacement for what we use now, there must also be a > way to convert them into the format used by some arbitrary menu system. > In practice, a way to convert existing menu entries into the new system, > and ideally also a way to make use of existing menu-methods, would also > be required. Ok. [...] > Of course not. But a lot - in fact, the overwhelming majority - of > these environments predate .desktop files, and are unlikely to change. > They don't integrate directly with any menu system but their own. For > new window managers (or or menu systems), I agree, it makes sense to use > .desktop files for the appropriate menu, as they are more widely > supported outside of Debian. Ok. [...] > | > There is no reason for Debian to do something merely because Red Hat > | > does. > | > | Why do you assume that I want Debian to follow RedHat choice? > [...] > | Nobody proposed that. I do not see the point in arguing about a > | non-existant proposal. > > In that case, why did you mention what Red Hat were doing? Since the paragraph where I mentioned RedHat is no longer quoted, it is less obvious why I mentioned it. I mentioned RedHat choice has an example of major GNU/Linux contributor that apparently decided that current development activity on the project WindowMaker is too low to continue to support commercially WindowMaker. I have to admit that all the information I can found about that is very laconic, for instance, in <http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/release-notes/x86/> is says that wmaker has been removed due to "Developer resource constraints". I remember about a message from a guy from RedHat saying more or less that he see no point in supporting an environment/wm that do not follow the new standards decided at freedesktop.org (is open to anybody if I understood right), that makes hard for RedHat to avoid some specific troubles, to provide support easily. But I'm not able to remember where I seen that message, so maybe it was a mistake from me. This example was not meant to be a plan for Debian but an example of persons thinking that it could make sense for wmaker to consider following freedesktop.org standards in some cases. The point was only: apparently it does not look so dumb to everybody to consider using .desktop even for some of the environment/wm listed by someone previously in this discussion. (A bad example, I have to admit, considering the size of my explanation of its usage) -- Mathieu Roy +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | General Homepage: http://yeupou.coleumes.org/ | | Computing Homepage: http://alberich.coleumes.org/ | | Not a native english speaker: | | http://stock.coleumes.org/doc.php?i=/misc-files/flawed-english | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+