[Nautilus-list] The .desktop file standard and Nautilus

[Damian Christey <dchriste wvu edu>]

  I am still concerned about Nautilus's lack of support for the .desktop
file standard. *.desktop files are the standard for program launchers in
both GNOME and KDE. Nautilus uses it's own file format for launchers on the
desktop. 

  .desktop files specify an icon, a program to launch or url to open, and
the text label and tooltip for more information. The translations for the
text labels are contained in the .desktop file for localization. You can
specify if a program needs to run in a terminal, or what programs to use to
open, edit, or view a file. The same format is used for urls. 

  Nautilus's system is inconsistent and incoherent. Dragging a program from
the GNOME menu makes a symlink to the excutable program. The icon is
specified in .nautilus-metafile.xml. It also gets a "no write" emblem. The
name that appears under the icon is the actual file name of the symlink
(bad for localization). There is no way to specify that a program needs to
run in a terminal. An entirely different format is used for urls, and this
time the icon is specified in the file, not in .nautilus-metafile.xml. 

  I am not just complaining. I test Nautilus on a daily basis and file bug
reports. I think this is a design problem that has been overlooked and is
of greater importance than some people at Eazel believe. I sincerely want
Nautilus to be the best file manager / desktop environmant possible.