Re: adding desktop files to misc packages
On Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 10:55:00AM +0200, Bernhard R. Link <brlink@debian.org> wrote:
> But if the display manager is only worth 2 cents, it's Debian default
> configuration should get it from the place where all window managers
> give proper notice of their existance, which is the Debian menu.
> Also just because many of the new shiny desktop environment systems want
> to reinvent everything, there are still many window managers which
> are able to properly change window managers on the fly, to any other
> window manager. Please do not drop this feature just because your pet
> toy does not support it (or supports it but you never used it).
The fact is very very very very few users actually use these items. So
why bother the more than vast majority that doesn't need them ?
> > An entry for each python/TCL/guile interpreter on the system? Can't
> > developers use terminals?
> > An entry for each of the bsdgames? For nano? For so many terminal
> > applications that you want to run, well, in a terminal?
>
> This is the primary reason why I hope the Debian menu will stay, because
> it is centered as user-friendlyness and not about some obscure ideology.
> Users need programs to do their tasks, no matter if they are terminal or
> what guikit they use. If you have a different feeling or think you have
> users fitting better into the ideology, the Debian menu system provides
> all means to do a simple global change (like not showing terminal apps,
> or moving everything you do not like to a other place) for a single or
> all users on your systems, while the default can still be what it most
> helpfull for people: Have everything that is available and usefull to
> start without parameters as an easy to find menu item.
Do you really think having the python interpreter in a menu item is at
all useful ? Take the debian user base, the number of people using
python as a development tool is already quite low. Now, in these people
developping python scripts or applications, how many do run the python
interpreter without it running the script or application ? I bet very
few. Of these few, how many run the python interpreter outside the IDE
they must be using ? Even fewer, I'd say. Of these very very few, how
many would run it frequent enough that they'd need a menu item for it ?
Now do you think it's fair to clutter everyone's menu with something
that hardly anybody uses ?
If a filtering of the items is at all possible, these should be
filtered-out *by default*, like some programs pretty much useless to
have in a menu are by default in gnome, such as evince or file roller
or, guess what, the python interpreter. Yep, python2.4 provides a
.desktop that is hidden by default.
Mike
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