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• Launchpad entry: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/better-structured-game-menu

• Packages affected:

Summary

After a while, when many applications are installed, menus get cluttered and difficult to use. We probably could improve those so that the menus are divided into subcategories, such as (Games -> Arcade/Action/Strategy/Simulation; Internet -> WWW/Instant Messaging/Chat/Mail/P2P).

Use cases

• Joe has installed a few software into his system, but would like them sorted by categories so the just-installed program would be easier to find.
• Bob is a power-user, and has lots of software installed on his machine. He would like to be able to find a certain program faster, without having to scroll through menus.

Scope

To get where we want, .desktop files, in the main packages. On the packages from Universe, it might be difficult to do it, because some of those packages don't even have .desktop files.

Design

By following the standards from the .desktop file format (http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/) and the menu specifications, http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/menu-spec , this is not hard to be done.

Implementation

In each .desktop file, change the "Categories" element to reflect where should each application create its menus, and also configure gnome-panel so it would follow those settings.

In each .desktop file, change the "Categories" element to reflect where should each application create its menus, and also configure gnome-panel so it would follow those settings.

BoF agenda and discussion

CategorySpec CategorySpec