[Usability] Lightening up the XDG menu

[Frans Englich]

On Sunday 28 March 2004 17:05, Havoc Pennington wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We have some patches along these lines in rawhide - I think we'd love to
> get them upstream.

Sure, one can send KDE related patches to me and I will commit/make sure it 
gets the proper attention in the KDE community(the mailinglist kde-core-devel 
is another alternative).

I will commit the KDE specific parts in this proposal, the GNOME specific is a 
little cumbersome for me due to practical circumstances. Obviously, I am 
looking expectationally into the audience ;-)


Cheers,

		Frans

>
> Havoc
>
> On Sat, 2004-03-27 at 13:13, Frans Englich wrote:
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > We all know how important the XDG menu specification is for integration
> > between the various desktop environments. But, unfortunately it creates a
> > usability problem when for example both GNOME and KDE is installed on one
> > computer - the menu becomes overcrowded. For example, in KDE's KMenu
> > there's a lot of applications which are either irrelevant or duplicates
> > functionality.
> >
> > Usability wise I do not think this should be under estimated. Several
> > usability reports and articles mentions the problem in KDE although the
> > causes is so many more than only this. The sheer size is a problem as
> > well as it is confusing since many entries are identical or irrelevant.
> >
> > The problem in the bigger picture is that the specification is not very
> > attractive to implement as well as installing multiple desktop
> > environments since it brings these usability issues. Thus hindering the
> > the purpose of the specification - integration.
> >
> >
> > The solution I proposes is rather simple - with the help of the NotShowIn
> > desktop directive programs are made available only where they are useful.
> > This is of course a sensitive issue, and that is why I have left out
> > various types of applications which would lead to too much discussion.
> >
> >
> > NotShowIn=GNOME;
> > ----------------
> > Sound Server Control
> > Audio Filter Designer
> > aRts Builder
> > KMix
> > Menu Editor
> > Menu Updating Tool
> > Configure Panel
> > Desktop Settings Wizard(kpersonalizer)
> > Wallet management Tool
> > Screen Resize & Rotate
> > Printing Manager
> > System Log
> > Print Jobs
> > Desktop Sharing
> > Info Center
> >
> > NotShowIn=KDE;
> > ------------------
> > Bug report tools
> > Volume Control
> > Recording Level Monitor
> > Sound Recorder
> > GDM Configurator
> > New Login
> > New Login in Nested Window
> > Configuration Tool
> > Screensaver
> >
> > Similar, but listed so their counterparts are more clear.
> >
> > Text Editor(gedit)		KEdit/KWrite
> > Eye of Gnome ImageView	KView
> > gThumb Image Viewer		KView/Konqueror
> > Terminal				Konsole
> > GGV Phostscript viewer	kpdf/kghostview
> > CD Player				kscd
> > GNOME Control Center	Control Center(kcontrol)
> > Floppy formatter		Floppy Formatter(kfloppy)
> > Calculator				KCalc
> > File Roller				Ark
> > Hex Edit				khexedit
> > System Monitor			KSysGuard, kdiskfree
> > Dictionary				kdict
> > Character Map			Character Selector
> >
> > One could of course object to all these, for example claiming that KEdit
> > should also be  available in GNOME etc. and vice versa. Then one should
> > perhaps consider what the implications are in the broader perspective and
> > also ask if it is not ok if the desktop environments profile themselves
> > by making these applications unique for themselves, thus choosing a
> > desktop environment means choosing a set of applications(which it in
> > practice already does).
> > We should also not forget that some of these applications are
> > surprisingly similar, and that some does not even work when not run in
> > their native desktop environment.
> >
> > To the contrary I most likely have gone to far, or missed crucial
> > applications, aspects or even major flaws in the idea itself. And that is
> > why comments, suggestions and discussion over this idea is highly
> > appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Frans Englich
> > KDE developer