Desktop Entry Spec : RootRequired entry

[Manu Cornet]

Hi !

> What good is a spec, if everyone is going to implement it differently
> anyway? 

Well, I thought it was important to separate the spec from its 
implementation, which will vary anyway. Some distros might choose to 
simply hide entries, some others to mark them as "admin stuff -- 
careful". The spec's role here is just to provide the needed 
information. I guess specs aren't meant to include code as well, and I 
don't think this is the first (nor the last) desktop entry key that will 
lead to different interpretation in different situation, is it ?

> It seems more like a workaround for usability issues, or
> permissions details, than a sufficient specification for how the menu
> structure should be determined. 

But it is just a small addition to the desktop entry spec, not a whole 
new menu spec.

Saying "workaround" means that there is a simpler, more direct way to do 
this ? Some have proposed to just change the appropriate desktop entry 
files so that only admin users can read them, but this sounds to me like 
some ugly hack. Adding this key to the spec so that the environment 
knows which entries need elevated privilege seems to be the simplest and 
cleanest way, at least to me. But if you have a better option, I'll be 
glad to discuss and implement it.

> Setting yet another environment variable
> is also probably not the best way to do it, especially since it's just
> a simple boolean value.

Again, I am open to all other propositions.

> I'm not even sure what problem this is supposed to solve exactly. The
> only thing described in the mail in relation to that, is the result,
> which doesn't tell me very much. It's like a request for a feature,
> without explaining the problem.

Well, I thought the problem was pretty clear. I am a newbie, and don't 
have administrator rights on the machine I'm using. I just got into 
Linux and GNOME, and I'm a bit lost with all these menus and submenus 
with lots o'settings inside them with names I don't even understand. All 
right, "Add & Remove Programs", this sounds nice, let's give it a try : 
bang ! Please enter your password blah blah. My password doesn't work. I 
don't have access to this. If I don't have this access (and to anything 
in the "Administration" submenu), why do they let me see it ? It's 
already complicated enough for me.

That's the problem :)

Cheers,
Manu