Re: Debian packages and freedesktop.org (Gnome, KDE, etc) menu entries
On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 16:48:28 -0500, Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org> said:
[I whole heartedly agree with Joey here. I am just adding a few
remarks]
> No, you're going about this backwards. Get the code written. Get the
> policy for Debian menu layout using .desktop files written. Make
> sure that there's a plan for how the transition will work. Only then
> does it make sense to begin asking maintainers to switch to .desktop
> files.
You do not need the policy to be a formal policy either -- get
a few like minded people to participate, and the policy can evolve
with the code as you work out the bugs. A working set of packages
using the code and policies, even if in a test environment, goes a
long way convince people of the feasibility.
> Because until you have code and a policy, you cannot test the menu
> items you are adding, and you do not know they will fit within the
> policies we will eventually devise for layout, wording, icons,
> whatever, for .desktop menu entries. And because in the meantime it
> leads to bloat, and to poor UI.
> By going about this backwards, you only double the amount of work
> that maintainers who add .desktop files will eventually have to do,
> and you do nothing to advance your goal of widespread use of
> .desktop files in Debian. If you would write some code, come up with
> a clear and workable transition plan, and go through regular
> channels to get it into policy, you would find that most developers
> would move to the new system with only a little nudging. As it is,
> you're setting yourself up for a fight every step of the way, and
> it's painful to watch.
In the past, policies have been developed and matured outside
the staid old debian technical policy, and thus unfettered by the
procedural constraints of the policy process until they had been
field tested, and had critical mass to get formally approved rapidly.
manoj
--
There are more things in heaven and earth than any place else.
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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