Proposal for update to packaging guidelines for icon files

[Richard Shaw]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 5:03 PM, Kevin Kofler <kevin.kofler at chello.at> wrote:
> Richard Shaw wrote:
>> 1. If installing icons into in to /usr/share/pixmaps is indeed
>> deprecated.
>
> It's not installing into /usr/share/pixmaps which is deprecated, but the
> whole concept of unthemed, fixed-size icons.
>
>> Then we need to update the packaging guidelines for the Desktop Files
>> section[2]. In the "Icon tag in Desktop Files" section it explicitly shows
>> a full path to an icon file in /usr/share/pixmaps.
>
> Because that's the standard path for unthemed, fixed-size icons.
>
>> While not intended as a guideline, it should be revised to showing a
>> full path to an icon in /usr/share/icons/hicolor
>
> No. It makes no sense whatsoever to reference /usr/share/icons/hicolor with
> an absolute path!
>
> The guideline should instead be changed to make it clear that using an
> absolute path there is deprecated and the other method should be preferred.
>
>> (probably in the 48x48 directory since it's the minimum requirement[3].)
>
> That is just a suggestion, not a requirement. For example, KDE Plasma
> doesn't actually use 48×48 anywhere, it uses 32×32 in Kickoff and 16×16 in
> the classic menu, so if you're designing for Plasma, having only a 48×48
> icon is suboptimal.
>
>> 2. It may even be better to create a separate section for icons.
>> Because the guidelines require us to "Requires:" a package when we
>> install a file into a directory that the package does not own,
>> theoretically all packages that install icons into
>> /usr/share/icons/hicolor need to "Requires: hicolor-icon-theme". This
>> should probably be explained more directly.
>
> Not just theoretically, but pratically. This is a MUST requirement.
>
> The whole purpose of hicolor-icon-theme is to be required by any package
> which installs any icons. It contains no actual icons, but just an empty
> theme for applications to install their icons into. Any application
> installing icons to hicolor MUST Require hicolor-icon-theme. Packages not
> doing that must be fixed.

Instead of responding to the points individually, I'll just say thank
you for explaining [all of] it in a way that make sense!


On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 6:03 PM, Toshio Kuratomi <a.badger at gmail.com> wrote:
> If you'd like to propose a new guideline/change to the existing one, that
> would be great.  It sounds like the consensus here for #1 is to deprecate
> absolute paths.  And to explain why the Requires are needed for #2.
>
> The way to propose a change is to write up a draft on the wiki and then open
> a ticket for the FPC to look at it on https://fedorahosted.org/fpc/

Of course. As usual, the main point of the post was to to gather
comments and make sure the proposal was both sound and acceptable.

Thanks,
Richard