On Wed, 30 Dec 2009, Marko Vojinovic wrote:
Not that I am an expert, but I guess the "GenericName" and
"Comment" are fields
inside the app.desktop files that are used to provide the
information such as
description when you hover the pointer in the menu. There is a
standardized
specification for these, which both KDE and Gnome (and other DE's)
should
follow. So if I understood what Rex said, KDE fills in the description in the
GenericName field, while Gnome prefers the Comment field.
Aha! Makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
And all would be well if both KDE and Gnome would read the data from *both*
fields and then decide which one to show to the user. But KDE disregards the
Comment field, while Gnome disregards the GenericName field. If the other one
happens to be empty, you have no description when you hover the pointer.
And the people who can actually write code never notice, of
course, because they do know what everything is, like a pilot in a
cockpit.
Sad part is that GenericName isn't an optional part of the spec.
Now, I understood this part as follows. The specification standard says that
the Comment field is optional and may be left out (or left blank). So KDE does
not do much wrong when disregarding this field. However GenericName field should
be obligatory (per spec.) and Gnome *does* do wrong when it disregards it.
So essentially, this is a bug in Gnome, and you should report it against
Gnome. What is sad is the fact that Gnome does not follow the agreed spec.
After some searching, I found the gnome bugzilla, and put in
for an account. I'll reference this thread when I post there --
however little the hope of action.
Btw, it is true that I happen to be one of those who despise and
detest the Apple interface
Finally, all this has absolutely nothing to do with Apple, AFAICS.
Nor I; but on rereading Rex Dieter before my reply, I picked
up an intimation that it might be more my aspersion on Apple than
the thread topic that he objected to. So I thought, probably
wrongly, it might be the lesser evil to mention it once more. The
Germans have an apposite saying: "Wie man's auch macht, ist es
verkehrt." [Roughly, whatever you do is wrong.] <sigh>
--
Beartooth Implacable
Death is not evil. Suffering is evil.
Guns are not evil. Tyranny is evil.
--
fedora-list mailing list
fedora-list@redhat.com
To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list
Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines