[Tango-artists] Icon naming theme and installers

[Rodney Dawes]

On Fri, 2008-08-29 at 09:27 +0100, Richard Hughes wrote:
> I'm developing PackageKit, and I'm trying to make it work well with
> other package managers in the system. I'm having real problems with
> icons.
> 
> At the moment I've got:
> 
> #define GPK_ICON_SOFTWARE_UPDATE		"system-software-update"
> #define GPK_ICON_SOFTWARE_SOURCES		"x-system-software-sources"
> #define GPK_ICON_SOFTWARE_INSTALLER		"system-software-install"
> #define GPK_ICON_SOFTWARE_UPDATE_PREFS		"x-system-software-update-preferences"
> #define GPK_ICON_SOFTWARE_UPDATE_AVAILABLE	"software-update-available"

Please don't just prepend x- to icons which aren't in the spec, which
you think you need. The correct way to name app icons is to have them
match the app's binary name, if they aren't in the spec. We have to
avoid having apps install generically named icons into hicolor, as if
one app does it, then it sets precedent for other apps to do the same,
creating a mess of possible file conflicts.

> Just for the installer, it appears we have a few names:
> 
> Tango: system-installer
> gnome: system-software-install (old name?: system-software-installer)
> Bluecurve: icon-install-software

The only one of these which is following the spec, is gnome. The icon in
Tango was from before an "install" icon was added to the spec (we only
had the update icon previously). And I don't know what the hell
Bluecurve was thinking.

> I've attached a patch to fix this in the legacy mapping, but the issue
> of the other icons is still valid. The other icons I'm sure need
> standardising is:
> 
> * system-software-sources
> * system-software-update-preferences

I'm not sure these really merit the need for standardization. Why is
"sources" configuration separate from "preferences"? If the latter were
to be put in the spec, the correct name would be
"preferences-system-software-update" I think, as per the system
preferences categories already in the spec. What would the metaphor for
such an icon be? Is a separate "preferences" program really necessary?
I know having it is traditional, but is it really needed? Can't you
simply manage the preferences in the updater/installer UI? Or if I open
the updater, and choose Edit->Preferences, do I get different UI than if
I run "Software Update Preferences" from the control center? If so, why?

> I'm also not sure why system-installer isn't present in
> http://standards.freedesktop.org/icon-naming-spec/icon-naming-spec-latest.html -- and I'm not sure where the latest cvs of icon-naming-spec is located.

Because system-installer is not a spec icon. The spec icon is
system-software-install (as it is in gnome-icon-theme). The Naming Spec
is in CVS at freedesktop.org in the default-icon-theme module for the
icon-theme project, which is the same place the Icon Theme Spec lives.

> On further investigation it appears that lots of the "Standard
> Application Icons" are missing from the spec. If this is due to lack of
> time, I can russle up some patches to remedy that if you wish.

Please define "Standard Application Icons" in depth. What one person
might consider "standard" may be unconventional to others. The goal with
the icon naming spec is to provide a basic set of names that every theme
should provide, based on what the majority of desktops ship. 

> The page at http://tango-project.org/Tango_Icon_Library#Download also
> redirects to a domain parking website -- probably not what is wanted.

tango.freedesktop.org is the proper domain to use.

> Anyway, please tell me what I need to do. At the moment I'm thinking of
> just copying the icons and shipping them in the gnome-packagekit
> tarball, but that is probably the wrong thing to do now we have the icon
> naming spec.

Copying what icons? There are no icons to copy. There are either icons
in the spec, or not in the spec. The ones in the spec, you obviously
need not copy to install yourself. The ones not in the spec, if they
are application icons, should be named to match the application's binary
name, and installed to hicolor's apps context, as per the spec. Icons
for other contexts in the spec, should be installed to a private icons
directory, as per http://live.gnome.org/ThemableAppSpecificIcons and
used in the app itself.

-- Rodney