On 07/19/2011 09:12 AM, Matthias Clasen wrote:
I have said this repeatedly, I will say it again:
I don't think such 'desktop marking' is making anything better, really.
It only makes the mess bigger by proliferating wierd and unmaintainable
desktop-specific workarounds in many places.
Applications should ideally not change their behavior depending on such
markers. If they need to use services which may or may not be present,
check for the proper dbus service names on the bus.
I agree in the general sense that features, not environments, should be
tested for.
But in the case of desktop file parsing, XDG defines OnlyShowIn values,
but never defines a way to know what value to use. I think that lack of
definition is a pretty clear use case for such a variable.
This isn't about defining a shortcut to avoid testing for features.
Maybe if a mini-spec gets written, it could include a section like:
"It is not recommended to assume features of a given desktop are present
after examining XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP. It's best to test for features as
you need them. XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is only recommended for checking
OnlyShowIn and NotShowIn values."
I think it still has some applications outside of that narrow scope.
xdg-utils for example, really just wants to know the desktop
environment; there's no feature it can test for there.
-mt
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