Re: Application Icons

[Chris Spencer <gmane 20 evilspam spamgourmet com>]

Christian Neumair wrote:
> Chris Spencer schrieb:

> > In the mean time, we can always use Konqueror, which doesn't impose 
> > these odd and frustrating limitations.
>
> Don't be that sarcastic.

I apologize if I seemed flippant, but I'm completely serious. I rarely 
use KDE for anything, but when I want to edit a .desktop file I use 
Konqueror with gedit since Nautilus simply does not allow this. I find 
the gui far more convenient than the equivalent command line tools.

> You want an option for displaying .desktop filenames instead of their 
> "Name" fields; two questions:
>
> a) Does Konqueror integrate this into the UI in a convincing way?
> b) Is this important for a notable percentage of our users?
>
> Feel free to come up with a reasonable integration proposal and we'll 
> adopt it, if b) is answered with yes.
> After all, we target office users and not developers, who usually know 
> how to use bash and friends.

Konqueror succeeds in this regard simply, and ironically, by providing 
less functionality than Nautilus. Konqueror treats a desktop file no 
differently than any other file, allowing you to execute, rename, or 
edit it.

I understand you desire to hide the intimidating innards of desktop 
files from the average user, but I propose such effort are unwarranted. 
The average user is unlikely to navigate the mysterious 
/usr/share/applications directory, much less worry about directly 
editing desktop files. Their interaction with desktop files will usually 
be limited to the application menu, which applies its own interface. If 
you're going to lock out desktop files, you might as well prevent them 
from navigating outside their home directory or manipulating 
configuration files. Of course it's true developers are often keen on 
the command line, but that's not to say it's not also convenient to 
simply browse to /usr/share/applications and open a file in gedit. Even 
developers can appreciate a nice desktop ;)

Again, I apologize if I seemed rude earlier. I'm a huge fan of Gnome and 
look forward to its continued success and improvement.

Chris