Charles Obler said the following on 02/26/2010 02:55 AM:
This suggests that there may be a simple way to add icons to the folder -- just copy the property files from
/usr/share/applications
to
~/Desktop.
However, I doubt that it is really that simple. What if I have several different "Folder" activities, each with a different "opera"? Because there is only one "Desktop" directory, all of these opera property files would have to have unique names. What am I missing?
You are missing the purpose of the property files. I think this is because you are still hung up on icons from 3.5 The property files are not icons. Icons are just a visual prompt. The folder should contain "data", not programs. The attribute of the data should tell how it should be used - "*.odt" uses OpenOffice - and so on. That's an association you set up separately. What you are doing is putting things that directly invoke programs. This is the wrong approach. They don't belong on your desktop or in any of the folders in "My Documents" that you may put on your desktop. Let me show you something that uses the contents of /user/share/applications more sensibly and in a more focused and usable manner. Maybe someone will take this, clean it up, add some more graphics, and put it in blog or wiki ... First, create a new panel. (See the KDE4 documentation and examples on-line, I'm not going to repeat such fundamentals.) Right click somewhere on the blank desktop background and select "Add Panel". Put this new panel on the right and set its width to about 32 pixels - which gives you room to play in - centre it, and for now don't set the autohide. That comes when you're finished. Add one and only one widget - "quicklaunch" In the quicklaunch settings, set the number of visible icons to 30. Now go into the quicklaunch with a right click and take the menu option "Add launcher". This takes you to a dialogue where you can add items from /usr/share/applications Add two dozen or so of your favourites. :-) You can now adjust the width/size to suit. Finally, I set the panel to autohide. The last image of full screen shot with the panel visible I'll send separately because of size limitations. This is using the applets and "icons" in a way that doesn't fight KDE4, frees up screen real-estate and give a great deal of functionality. It makes it clear that these are application launchers - not 'icons' - and focuses them. It means the folders I do have on my 'desktop' contain data, documents, not programs. Personally I think this gets closer to the real desktop analogy. -- This is a general discussion intended for use only by qualified professionals. It should not be taken or used as a recommendation for any specific business, application, or environment. Said recommendations can be made only in a specific context and will be made only for a professional fee.
