Re: [Nautilus-list] GNOME user environment brainstorming

[Mike Gerdts <gerdts bellsouth net>]

In my travels as a sysadmin I have run across a desire to have menus 
customized based on role.  For example, while working in an university
engineering computing center, users included students that truly used
a different set of applications.  There were some applications that
were common to most of them, though.  For example, electrical engineering
 students care a lot about the various tools from Mentor Graphics, but
did not care much about Pro Engineer.  They both were fairly likely to
use Word.  Having moved to the corporate world, there I have seen this
same need.

It would perhaps be useful to have a method for administrators (and
non administrators too!) to create "menu sets" that can be part of a
global configuration (sysadmins only) or freely shared through
standard data sharing techniques including through the file system,
email, etc.

In academia, the instructor for ME305 could include instructions on
the introductory email and/or handout that includes the menu set (or a
reference to it) for the course.  This could include things like:

   ME305 - Things you never wanted to know about fluids
	Create a new slurpy model
	Edit an existing slurpy model
		slurpy1		(This is kinda like a recent documents menu)
		slurpy2
		...
	View the course web page
	Add the course schedule to your schedule
	Send mail to the instructor

In the real world, this may include things like:

   Project Fubar
	Project plan
	Engineering Tools
		Source code control
		Simulator
   	Bug tracking

   Human Resources
   	Forms
		Overtime request
		Vacation request
		Application for Sexual Harassment
	Benefits


When a new hire comes into Project Fubar, the team lead/mentor can then
provide that person with the Project Fubar menu set.  Sysadmins get
regular updates from HR, and keep that area up to date as well.
Ideally it is possible for both sysadmins and team leads to just
provide a reference (link, likely not symlink) to the central store
for each of those menu items, so that updates by the responsible
person updates all the users' desktops simultaneously.

Of course this has probably all been implemented already, but I just
haven't seen it. :)

Mike