Revisit XDG .desktop files

[danshick]

https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-latest.html

It would be nice to consume an existing standard. Hopefully this issue can serve as a place to persist information on why or why not XDG desktop files might be a good fit.

Importantly, I think it is worth mentioning that there are two mechanisms to extend the recognized keys supported by the format:

Extending the format

If the standard is to be amended with a new {key,value} pair which should be applicable to all supporting parties, a group discussion will take place. This is the preferred method for introducing changes. If one particular party wishes to add a field for personal use, they should prefix the key with the string X-PRODUCT, e.g. X-NewDesktop-Foo, following the precedent set by other IETF and RFC standards.

Alternatively, fields can be placed in their own group, where they may then have arbitrary key names. If this is the case, the group should follow the scheme outlined above, i.e. [X-PRODUCT GROUPNAME] or something similar. These steps will avoid namespace clashes between different yet similar environments.

[Eeems]

Would we also want to support xdg-open and the MIME Applications spec?

[coozoo]

vote plus for desktop entry files well developed, it's easy to read, easy to capture in bash, easy to edit with text editor..
no need creepy yaml, no need sophisticated json structure

[Eeems]

creepy yaml? sophisticated json?

[coozoo]

creepy yaml? sophisticated json?

do you think it's not creepy to follow all indentations with text editor (I'm not talking about text processors or complete IDE). I should mention it's IMHO :)
I've just tried to setup github actions and simply screwed up with space at the end of string and wondered why nothing works.

About json, try to read it without jq from cosole :)

[Eeems]

creepy yaml? sophisticated json?

do you think it's not creepy to follow all indentations with text editor (I'm not talking about text processors or complete IDE). I should mention it's IMHO :)
I've just tried to setup github actions and simply screwed up with space at the end of string and wondered why nothing works.

I've done a lot of python programming, so whitespace stuff doesn't bother me.

About json, try to read it without jq from console :)

Why? That's what jq is there for. Just like you don't try to read image files directly from the console ;)

[coozoo]

I've done a lot of python programming, so whitespace stuff doesn't bother me.

Yeah I know ppl like you 😏 my eyes are bleeding when I'm editing python files with mcedit :)

Why? That's what jq is there for. Just like you don't try to read image files directly from the console ;)

there is small difference. Image files content is "binary", json still text and there is cases when you need to parse it directly :)

[Eeems]

mcedit

There's your problem ;)

there is small difference. Image files content is "binary", json still text and there is cases when you need to parse it directly :)

Wouldn't using jq still be a better option? I'm failing to see a scenario that you'd need to parse it directly.

[coozoo]

Wouldn't using jq still be a better option? I'm failing to see a scenario that you'd need to parse it directly.

jq usually needs to be installed it's not a part of posix. and remarkable by default without it as most of the systems.

[Eeems]

Right, but that's up to the application to list as a dependency and either require through toltec, or link to a binary.

[Eeems]

In theory desktop files should be easy to work with in Qt: https://gist.github.com/zester/1185753

[coozoo]

yeah it's not just in theory, it's really easy :) I can confirm, I'm not using it for desktop files. But I'm using QSettings often for app settings basically the same ini format.
I think it's more complicate to support features that they provide, like mime or translations sure if there is plans to implement them at all :)

[Eeems]

But I'm using QSettings often for app settings basically the same ini format.

Same here, reMarkable is as well.

I think it's more complicate to support features that they provide, like mime or translations sure if there is plans to implement them at all :)

Yeah, we'd probably just want to support a subset initially.

[matteodelabre]

Python also provides easy support for ini-like files. Could be handy for generating compat Draft & Oxide files from a Python script.
https://docs.python.org/3/library/configparser.html

EDIT: To be fair, it supports json just as well through https://docs.python.org/3/library/json.html

[coozoo]

here it's an old qt4 project there was some implementation maybe it can be helpful despite it is for qt4
https://github.com/radekp/qtmoko/blob/cdaa420a6675aa396c326b07122a853a9d5578a8/src/3rdparty/applications/qx/DesktopScanner.cpp

https://doc.qt.io/archives/qtextended4.4/desktopfiles.html

[Eeems]

One issue with using .desktop files is that existing applications in the *nix ecosystem use them, but expect to be running under X or Wayland. Since we currently are not working towards implementing either, it does cause some problems with having application entries show up that will never run.

On my reMarkable, I currently have two desktop files: