DeveloperWiki:Removal of desktop files

[community]

Background information

"Since archlinux advertises itself as having vanilla packages, I thought it might be a good idea to contact upstream about either including these desktop files in their sources, or if they refuse, then get rid of them. Packages should only be moved to the Done list if the .desktop files are removed from svn repos and the package itself. In case upstream does reject taking in the .desktop file, put it in the Done (rejected) list but do not delete the .desktop files from the package until the very end when we can formally warn users about the impending .desktop deletion and give them a week to backup anything they want."

• See also: FS#23387

Relevant quote

"Patching only occurs in extremely rare cases, to prevent severe breakage in the instance of version mismatches that may occur within a rolling release model." - Arch Linux Source Integrity

Relevant commands

For finding the number of .desktop files in /var/abs/community:

• find /var/abs/community -name '*.desktop' | sort -u | wc -l

For finding the .desktop files in trunk in the community repo:

• find . -maxdepth 3 -wholename "*trunk/*.desktop*"

With wiki formatting:

• for f in `find . -maxdepth 3 -wholename "*trunk/*.desktop*" | sort -u | sed 's:/trunk/:/:'`; do echo $f | sed 's:./:* :'; done

Progress

Not Done (last updated 2012-08-07)

• alleyoop/alleyoop.desktop
• assaultcube/assaultcube.desktop
• astromenace/astromenace.desktop
• aumix/aumix.desktop
• awesome/awesome.desktop
• blobby2/blobby2.desktop
• boinc/boinc.desktop
• bomberclone/bomberclone.desktop
• caph/caph.desktop
• checkgmail/checkgmail.desktop
• critter/critter.desktop
• cycle/cycle.desktop
• dguitar/dguitar.desktop
• driconf/driconf.desktop
• dvdisaster/dvdisaster.desktop
• dwarffortress/dwarffortress.desktop
• dwm/dwm.desktop
• epdfview/epdfview.desktop.patch
• esmska/esmska.desktop
• extremetuxracer/extremetuxracer.desktop
• fceux/fceux.desktop
• flobopuyo/flobopuyo.desktop
• freecol/fc.desktop
• freedroid/freedroid.desktop
• freedroidrpg/freedroidrpg.desktop
• freemind/freemind.desktop
• freevo/freevo.desktop
• frogatto/frogatto.desktop
• gcolor2/gcolor2.desktop
• gebabbel/gebabbel.desktop
• ghemical/ghemical.desktop
• gl-117/gl-117.desktop
• gnormalize/gnormalize.desktop
• gutenpy/gutenpy.desktop
• gxmessage/gxmessage.desktop
• hedgewars/hedgewars.desktop
• hex-a-hop/hex-a-hop.desktop
• intellij-idea-community-edition/idea.desktop
• josm/josm.desktop
• jsampler/jsampler-classic.desktop
• jsampler/jsampler.desktop
• kcheckers/kcheckers.desktop
• lastfm-client/lastfm.desktop
• mari0/mari0.desktop
• mp3splt-gtk/mp3splt-gtk.desktop
• mumble/mumble11x.desktop
• nfoview/x-nfo.desktop
• ninja-ide/ninja-ide.desktop
• nvclock/nvclock.desktop-use-gksu.patch
• openarena/openarena-server.desktop
• openarena/openarena.desktop
• paraview/paraview.desktop
• pdfedit/pdfedit.desktop
• pingus/pingus.desktop
• pympc/pympc.desktop
• q4wine/q4wine.desktop
• qcad/QCad.desktop
• qgit/qgit.desktop
• qsopcast/qsopcast.desktop
• qtcreator/qtcreator.desktop
• rapidsvn/rapidsvn.desktop
• rxvt-unicode/urxvt-tabbed.desktop
• rxvt-unicode/urxvt.desktop
• rxvt-unicode/urxvtc.desktop
• sage-mathematics/SAGE-notebook.desktop
• sk1/sk1.desktop
• smc/smc.desktop
• speed-dreams/speed-dreams.desktop
• springlobby/springlobby.desktop
• stormbaancoureur/stormbaancoureur.desktop
• sxiv/sxiv.desktop
• tdfsb/tdfsb.desktop
• tea/tea.desktop
• teeworlds/teeworlds.desktop
• torcs/torcs.desktop
• tremulous/tremulous.desktop
• tuxcards/tuxcards.desktop
• tuxguitar/tuxguitar.desktop
• umlet/umlet.desktop
• uqm/uqm.desktop
• urbanterror/urbanterror.desktop
• vym/vym.desktop
• widelands/widelands.desktop
• xboard/xboard.desktop
• xemacs/xemacs.desktop
• xonotic/xonotic-glx.desktop
• xonotic/xonotic-sdl.desktop

Pending (have been reported)

• blobby2/blobby2.desktop (http://sourceforge.net/apps/mantisbt/blobby/view.php?id=28)
• bomberclone/bomberclone.desktop (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3404991&group_id=79449&atid=556632)
• caph/caph.desktop (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3404994&group_id=295355&atid=1247095)
• checkgmail/checkgmail.desktop (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3377367&group_id=137480&atid=738666)
• gcolor2/gcolor2.desktop - https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3404696&group_id=119919&atid=685762
• paraview/paraview.desktop - http://paraview.org/Bug/view.php?id=12508
• speed-dreams/speed-dreams.desktop (https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/speed-dreams/ticket/112)
• sxiv/sxiv.desktop (https://github.com/muennich/sxiv/pull/50)
• tea/tea.desktop - sent to author, he promised to include in next release
• torcs/torcs.desktop (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3405193&group_id=3777&atid=103777)
• umlet/umlet.desktop - sent to upstream - http://code.google.com/p/umlet/issues/detail?id=23
• urbanterror/urbanterror.desktop

Finished (upstream rejected the .desktop file)

• nexuiz/nexuiz-glx.desktop (nexuiz is effectively dead)
• nexuiz/nexuiz-sdl.desktop (nexuiz is effectively dead)
• qgit/qgit.desktop (no project activity in 3 yrs)
• xskat/xskat.desktop
• intellij-idea-community-edition/intellijidea.desktop - IDEA has an option to generate desktop file from GUI, so there's no stand-alone file provided: http://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-83646

Tools

gendesk

gendesk is a Arch Linux-specific tool for generating .desktop files from PKGBUILD files. Most of the information is fetched directly from the PKGBUILD.

Icons are downloaded from fedora, if available. The source for icons can easily be changed in the future.

How to use

• Add gendesk to makedepends

• Start the build() function with:

cd "$srcdir"
gendesk
# And then the rest

• Add _name=('Program Name') to the PKGBUILD to choose a name for the menu entry. There are other options available too, like _exec=('someapp --with-ponies').

• Use gendesk -n if you wish to generate a .desktop file, but not download any icon

• See the gendesk source for more information. (Patches and pull requests are welcome).

See also

• The Arch Desktop Project
• Desktop Entries