Re: Bug#330064: wm2 should provide a session file for kdm and gdm

[Decklin Foster <decklin@red-bean.com>]

Christopher Martin writes:

> If the Debian menu plans to enter the business of providing
> freedesktop.org window manager session files for display managers,
> then I must have missed the announcement.

How feasible is it for gdm or kdm to write a menu method, as wms do? Is
there some reason this needs to be part of the grand plan for menu?

I don't particularly have a problem with writing these files myself, but
I am reasonably certain 99% of my users do not use or have any desire to
use gdm or kdm to manage their sessions (read the package descriptions
for 9wm and aewm). So, these files will eventually suffer from bit-rot
as no one will be looking at them or notice when they get out of date.
(Yes, I know that in theory no effort is supposed to be required to
maintain such a file once it goes in, because they're supposed to be
valid forever, but we all know that never ends up being true.)

If this *really* is widespread practice and it *really* is intractable
for dms to do it (is it?), then maybe this should go into Policy, so
there is a reason to write linda/lintian tests (like those that cover
bad menu files), and for people who do not otherwise care to pay
attention. (If I had the time and energy to hack on aewm, there are
plenty of other freedesktop.org standards which would be much higher up
on my list, and some of them are even suggested by Policy.)

-- 
things change.
decklin@red-bean.com