general update-menus for debian
As was discussed before on debian-devel, the install-fvwm2menu
install adds great functionality to the fvwm2 manager, but
unfortunately only to that manager. The menu I just uploaded
(version 0.2) package provides a more general interface for
the various packages.
After suggestions from Ian (and somebody else), the menu entries
are now in seperate files (one file per package). These files
can then be overruled by the systemadmin by putting a file
with the same name in /etc/menu, and by the user by putting
that file in ~/.menu.
Each menufile looks a bit like this one:
#the axe menufile, in /usr/lib/menu/default
X11 Apps/Editors axe none Axe /usr/bin/X11/axe
>From left to right the arguments in this file are:
-what kind of display the app needs,
-the section the menu should appear in
-a id for this menu entry
-the iconfile
-the text in the menu
-is the command to execute.
This way, when another window manager adds debian menus to it, it
can also use these (and, the first time update-menus is run,
it will notice the new window manager, and tell it to install
all possible menus).
update-menus also notices removal of packages, and removes the
corresponding menu entries (important for the users, as they may
well have stale ~/.menu entries).
After a short discussion with Joey Hess, we desided on the
following directories:
~/.menu
/etc/menu - empty from start, contains local changes only
/usr/lib/menu - Packages install their menufiles in here.
/usr/lib/menu/default - The menu package provides some default
menu entries, as examples for other packages.
Files in a directory higer up this list rule (if two directories have
a file with the same name, update-menus will only use the one in
the higest directory in this list).
Because usually in debian, directory /usr/lib/$package is for
$package only, this may not fit in with the debian guidelines.
However, there are precedences: /usr/lib/texmf is used by
lot's of packages, as is /usr/lib/gcc-lib (by gcc anc g77), and
there are probably more. What do the other debain maintainers
think about the /usr/lib/menu choise for the package-default
menu files?
This release also contains a sample /etc/menu-methods/fvwm2
programme (OK a link into /usr/bin/install-fvwm2genmenu), so that
after installing my menu package, you'll immediately have the
50 or so menu entries I put in /usr/lib/menu/default.
--
joost witteveen
joost@rulcmc.leidenuniv.nl
joostje@debian.org
--
Use Debian/GNU Linux!
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