WTF⁈ ShowOnlyIn=GNOME

[Dennis Jacobfeuerborn]

Jesse Keating wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:17:37 -0700
> "Christopher Stone" <chris.stone at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> kate
> 
> On a shared system where some users prefer Gnome and some prefer KDE, I
> don't want to have KDE apps such as kate cluttering up the Gnome
> users's menu.  Likewise I wouldn't want the KDE user to be cluttered
> with gnome.

With this approach you make at least two assumptions:
1. Consistency is more important than usability
2. KDE text editor A has the same functionality as GNOME text editor B
    (making them interchangeable)

Not making an important application (for a particular user) available 
merely on the grounds of consistency shows a disregard for the users needs 
just so that the menu can look "nice" and is a very bad move in my eyes. 
Setting up sane defaults is ok but you shouldn't cut off users from 
applications they might need.

> 
> As stated before, perhaps what is needed is the tools such as
> gnome-menu or whatever xfce uses ignore the ShowOnlyIn argument and
> display them all anyway.

The gnome menu editor needs a way to let the user choose which applications 
should be available in the menu. I think the best way is not to make that 
choice based on a particular desktop environment but based on the needs of 
the user i.e. the user shouldn't have to choose the particular DE he wants 
to show the app in but instead have a way to say "I need this application 
for my daily work so show it all the time". If I use Kate to edit my files 
it should show up in the menu all the time not just when I boot into a 
particular DE.

So to summarize: Setting defaults is fine but there should be an easy way 
for users to configure an application as "Show always".

Regards,
   Dennis