Menu spec update (summary; closure?)

[Jeremy White]

Okay, so this is my summary of this thread.

The problem is that there is no specified place to write system
wide data files (like menu files).  Reference this page in the
basedir-spec:

  http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/latest/ar01s02.html

Reading is clear; writing user specific files is clear;
writing system wide files is not mentioned.

AFAIR, there are three competing proposals to address this:

  1.  My proposal to specify that the first writable
      directory in XDG_*_DIRS be used.

  2.  Waldo asserts that the spec was always intended to be hard coded
      to either /usr/local or /usr.  This is now committed.

  3.  The assertion that ISVs should not be
      writing any files to the /usr portion of
      the file system.

      This would require the menu spec be updated to
      specify some way of allowing XDG_DATA_DIRS
      to be expanded dynamically; probably requires
      a new config file, which in turn, probably requires
      all compliant environments to watch it for changes.

      The FHS is usually invoked to argue for this.

I don't know how to resolve this or bring it to closure.

I think idea #3 is a neat idea (I'm a big fan
of having all files isolated into their own
/opt/<blech> directory), but I just don't see a practical
road from here to there.  And even if #3 is championed,
a short term resolution is needed while we're waiting
for it to be adopted.

I still think my proposal is better; in a last gasp
attempt to persuade Waldo, I would like to point out that
my proposal collapses quite rapidly into Waldo's
solution in nearly all cases (as the default for
XDG_DATA_DIRS is /usr/local/share:/usr/share).

At this point, Waldo appears to be winning by fiat,
as he has commit access.  I don't mind if my proposal
is defeated, but I do not feel that there has been
a consensus around this issue.

How do we resolve this?

Cheers,

Jeremy