Re: Debian Policy 4.0.1.0 released

[Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>]

Hi,

On Sat, 2017-08-05 at 18:58:13 -0700, Sean Whitton wrote:
> A.2. Version 4.0.1
> 
>    Released August, 2017.
[…]
>    9.6
> 
>            Packages installing a Free Desktop entry must not also install a
>            Debian menu system entry.

Well this is still such terrible policy, and even if there was consensual
agreement to deprecated the menu system it would also still be a terrible
transition plan. :( Worse so given that it was an imposed change from
the so called tech-ctte…

[ And just to make it explicit here in case people skip the thread
  refs below, I don't even use the menu system anymore on my systems! ]

Please see the thread starting at
<https://lists.debian.org/debian-policy/2015/09/msg00040.html>
and continued at
<https://lists.debian.org/debian-policy/2015/10/msg00000.html>.


At this point I guess the decision to cope fairly with such subpar and
imposed policy that a maintainer that has a package shipping both a
desktop file and a menu file is either to:

 - ignore it, very sadly violating policy, :( at least until there's
   a proper transition plan that does not leave users and WM/DE
   maintainers in the cold,
 - protest it, and still be policy compliant, by going the Solomonic
   route and removing both files.

Both options are very suboptimal, though. :(

Regards,
Guillem