Request for clarification on menu/file spec

[Jeremy White]

> datadir is an autoconf-ism, the implicit assumption here is that a binary is 
> installed to {prefix}/bin and it's data files to locations under 
> {prefix}/share. E.g. an application would install manpages to {datadir}/man 

Thanks for the explanation.  But that shorthand isn't appropriate
for a specification like this, imho (nor does it really answer
the question, as you can't control what ./configure choices
a given users Linux provider used).

> Not sure if it's a typo in your e-mail, but it is /usr/local/share, 
> not /usr/share/local. 

Yes, sorry.

> 
> Can it be that the sytems that you have tested that fail to respond to files 
> placed in /usr/local/share/applications, fail to notice the new directory? Do 
> they recognize new files in that directory after a restart?

I haven't probed it carefully.  Does that imply that my
analysis is wrong, and that the expected correct behavior is
to use the first directory in XDG_DATA_DIRS no matter what?

I would argue that my algorithm is better <grin>.
It feels less invasive (making a directory where one never
existed suggests you're doing something the user might
not like), and more adaptable to field conditions.

Cheers,

Jeremy