Request for clarification on menu/file spec

[Waldo Bastian]

On Friday 03 February 2006 05:40, Jeremy White wrote:
> > 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).

The thinking here is that if a user wants to install an application to a 
different prefix, the .desktop file should go there as well and it's up to 
the user to include the new prefix to XDG_DATA_DIRS in such case.

However, that thinking fails to provide correct guidance on what should happen 
in the normal case. 

> > 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.

Although it's probably a pragmatic approach I don't think applications should 
base their decision where to install on $XDG_DATA_DIRS.

Where is the application itself installed? How do you handle manpages?

Cheers,
Waldo
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