Can *.desktop files be located in /usr/local/applications?

[Damjan Jovanovic]

On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 3:28 AM, jupiter <jupiter.hce at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for asking a simple quesiton, I am new to the freedesktop. I
> have read the latest spec, but still not clear if I can put
> application *.desktop to different locations such as
> /usr/local/application1/application1.desktop,
> /usr/local/application2/application2.desktop, etc.. If it can, what I
> should to do to make those applications listed in desktop based on
> user ID or group ID? Appreciate any helps.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Jupiter

/usr/local/share/applications is for *.desktop files that appear in
every user's menus.
$HOME/.local/share/applications is for *.desktop files that appear
only in that particular user's menus.
Both have to have a flat structure (no further subdirectories).
No per-group-ID *.desktop files are possible.