Shawn Walker wrote:
Frank Ludolph wrote:
There is no Applications/Editor category in the PM. The subcategories

So add one.
Sure, if we also add the corresponding Applications submenu

under Applications match the Applications menu. Items in the an Applications subcategory, when installed, should appear within corresponding Applications menu entry. Ubuntu has Add/Remove... in their Applications menu that works the same way. Emacs-gtk and GVim are in the Accessories subcategory. A primary requirement of a package to be categorized under Applications/... is that it appear in the corresponding Applications submenu after installation.

Requirement?  What requirements and from where did they come?
It's pretty confusing to categorize an application one way in the PM and a different way in the Applications menu, or to not appear at all.

It would be reasonable to classify gnu-emacs-gtk, gnu-emacs-x and other packages under Applications/... when they are also installed in the corresponding Applications (or System) submenu. Until then they need to live elsewhere. Development/Editors seemed more appropriate to our primary target audience, developers, than System/Text Tools.

While I could possibly agree with the assertion that packages should be categorised as they are grouped in the GNOME menu, I do not agree that the lack of a menu item should dictate that it be categorised differently. Ultimately, categorisation is about helping the user find applications, not mapping to a menu hierarchy.
Finding them both to install and to run. We need to do better here. The only way to figure out how to run a terminal-based app after installing is to look at its Files list for /usr/bin/... in the PM (or search /usr/bin/ after installing).


Emacs-nox (terminal-based) is not listed within Ubuntu's Add/Remove. Add/Remove... does not list any terminal-based applications. Ubuntu appears to agree with the proposition that terminal-based applications are appropriate for only a limited number of highly computer-skilled users. Mixing them in with GUI applications will only lead to a number of issues for other users who will install them while browsing for 'interesting' applications, and, after installation, will not even be able to find and start them. The highly-skilled users will have little trouble finding them by searching or even browsing.

Just because Ubuntu does it, does not mean it is right. I believe we can do better here. If our purpose in life is to just copy Ubuntu, then let's just ship Ubuntu and be done with it.

In a related email Stephen said he would be reassured by examples from another classification scheme where interaction style is a determinant. That's why the Ubuntu comments are included. But in all fairness I feel that Ubuntu does a pretty good job of application management.

Frank
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