On 25.01.2009 22:58, Owen Rudge wrote:
"Windows software" may be a better term than "Wine". "Program Files" wouldn't really make sense, since all the items in the Applications menu are meant to be program files. On the issue of whether we should keep the "Programs" subfolder, I guess you could transparently redirect things that try to create items there, and it would probably not cause too many problems. The current system though doesn't seem too bad.
Also, Windows and Linux desktops have a bit of different "views" on what the "desktop menu" should contain: most of the time, the Windows start menu contains one folder per application, with that folder containing not only the application but also a link to the README or web page, uninstaller etc. In contrast, Linux desktop first sort the items per category (eg Education, Development) and there is one icon per application (no READMEs etc). Now, if the Windows start menu would simply be merged with the desktop menu at the top level, you'd suddenly throw (potentially a lot) application/vendor "categories" into it - arguably with a messy result. Ideally, Windows applications would just show up in the according desktop menu categories - but of course, since this information isn't provided by Windows in any way* you would have to have a database of application-to-category mappings**. So realistically, while not the nicest solution, there probably has to be some "Wine applications" or "Windows applications" (or, if you want to do without Win* entirely, "Other applications" or so).
* - Vista added the Game Explorer, so games could be identified and added to the Games category. ** - This actually sounds like something the "3rd party Wine users" (eg Crossover, Bordeaux, Wine Doors) could implement.
-f.r.