"Joe Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Don Armstrong" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
So it seems like we should do the following:
1. Make changes to the menu system to use .desktop files in preference
to .menu files when they exist
2. Generate .desktop files from .menu files using the menu system when
.desktop files don't exist.
3. Continue using the menu system for window managers which don't
natively understand .desktop files; drop the Debian menu for those
that do.
The other issue that was brought up was improving the hierarchical
organization of the menus, but how to do that hasn't been made clear
in this thread.
That is exactly the correct thing to do. It has the advantage of basically
converting Debian to the stardard FDO .desktop format.
It also effectively adds limited support for the FDO format to the other
window managers (the menu system would be converting the .desktop files of
any installed package automatically).
Of course one of the keys to this transition would be to eventually
depreciate the .menu files. If the menu system can read the .desktop files
then there would be no reason to keep the .menu format around long term,
but it would need to stay temporally as part of the transition.
To formalize this as a proposal:
-----BEGIN PROPOSAL-----
Given that .desktop is a standardized file format, and is roughly a superset
of the current .menu format,
the Debian menu system will add support reading .desktop files as source in
addition to the .menu files.
When both a .desktop file and a .menu file exists the .desktop file takes
precedence.
The Debian menu system will generate .desktop files from .menu files if the
.desktop file does not exist. This is intended solely
as a temporary compatibility measure.
The .menu format is depreciated. Lintian should add a check warning about
packages that include a .menu file but no .desktop file. Maintainers are
encouraged to replace the .menu file with a full .desktop file, conformant
with the "Desktop Menu Specification" and the "Desktop Entry Specification".
However, once a revised Debian menu policy has been adopted, the files
should conform with policy in any case where policy contradicts those
specifications.
Windows managers that support the "Desktop Menu Specification" should stop
including the Debian menu, as all its entries would be available as .desktop
files.
A revised menu policy should be drafted. It should indicate when a package
requires a .desktop file, and when it would not require a desktop file. It
should also specify which types of menu entries should default to
NoDisplay=True. If extensions to the .desktop format are desired, such as to
implement a roles based system for determining which entries appear in the
menu, this would be to document which should specify the extension. Finally
the document may amend the "Desktop Menu Specification" hierarchy, if it is
determined that a change to that hierarchy would be benifical to the users.
-----END PROPOSAL-----
Comments?
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