Missing xmms launcher

Rex Dieter rdieter at math.unl.edu
Fri Nov 11 14:06:44 UTC 2005


Paul Howarth wrote:

> These "generic" names have actually been chosen as a matter of policy, 
> the idea being that users unfamiliar with particular applications would 
> be able to easily find a tool for the task they want to do, e.g. play 
> some audio, edit some text, burn a CD. Most newbies wouldn't have a clue 
> what "xmms" was for instance.

Yeah, I know *why* the choice was made, and I would argue it was a *bad* 
one.

The freedesktop.org standard 
(http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/desktop-entry-spec) clearly allows for
Name=xmms
GenericName=Audio Player

But redhat/gnome chose not to support/display the GenericName entries, 
and chose instead to dilute "Name" entries with generic ones (and thus 
hiding the *real* name of the application(s) in question).  KDE's 
default menu setup shows:
xmms (Audio Player)
If only redhat/gnome would support that, IMO, both schools of thought 
would be satisfied.

See also some of my bugzilla entries (err.. rants) on the subject:
gaim: http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/132967
xchat: http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/133090
abiword: http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/171921

-- Rex




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