[haiku-commits] Re: Utilities Folder (was: hrev44091 - build/jam)

  • From: Stephan Aßmus <superstippi@xxxxxx>
  • To: haiku-commits@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 04 May 2012 11:05:27 +0200

On 02.05.2012 21:10, John Scipione wrote:
On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 2:31 PM, John Scipione <jscipione@xxxxxxxxx
Mac OS X has a "Utilities" folder where it puts more utility type apps
under "Applications". I was thinking that might be a good idea to
borrow. Utilities could be a subdirectory under Applications or it could
be a new top-level directory. Some apps that might get categorized as
Utilities (other than Colors!) might include:

ActivityMonitor
CharacterMap
Devices
DiskProbe
DiskUsage
DriveSetup
Installer
Magnify
MediaConverter
Screenshot

As Ingo said, for the time being, Colors! probably fits fine in "Desktop Applets".

For the future, I think the menu should not directly be editable by the user. I think users only spent time on this if there is a need. On BeOS, I have indeed messed with the DeskBar menu, I think I've replaced the "Applications" folder with a link to where I actually installed Applications, and thus I always had access to whatever I installed, without ever updating the menu again. On Linux, I have never seen the need to mess with the menu. Mostly because a) what I install shows up, and b) I could agree with the sorting and categories.

So ideally, I think the Deskbar menu should be dynamic based on a Query for all applications. Apps would have an attribute "META:category" or similar (could be fully integrated with FileTypes and the Locale Kit, just like the name is now). This would be a comma separated list of categories, where this app can appear. This would even make an app appear in multiple places in the Deskbar menu hierarchy, which makes it easier for users to find it, should they have different expectations or assumptions of the category. And then Deskbar would of course build the menu based on merging all categories found in all applications. It wouldn't know any "default" categories.

Should a user really see the need to mess with the menu, he can then right-click an application and change the category attribute.

Best regards,
-Stephan

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