1 <!doctype debiandoc system [
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9 The debian-policy mailing list has taken responsibility for the
10 contents of this document, with the package maintainers responsible
11 for packaging administrivia only.
16 <title>The Debian Menu sub-policy</title>
18 <name>Chris Waters</name>
21 <name>Joey Hess</name>
24 <name>Joost Witteveen</name>
27 <name>The Debian Policy mailing List</name>
28 <email>debian-policy@lists.debian.org</email>
30 <version>version &version;, &date;</version>
33 This manual describes the policy requirements for the Menu
34 system used in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. This
35 document is part of the policy package for Debian.
40 Copyright © 1999 Software in the Public Interest, Inc.
43 This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or
44 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
45 as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version
46 2, or (at your option) any later version.
49 This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
50 <em>without any warranty</em>; without even the implied
51 warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular
52 purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more
56 A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
57 <tt>/usr/doc/copyright/GPL</tt> in the Debian GNU/Linux
58 distribution or on the World Wide Web at
59 <url id="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html"
60 name="The GNU General Public Licence">. You can also obtain it by writing to the
61 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
62 Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
69 <heading>About this document</heading>
71 The latest copy of this document can be found in the
72 <tt>menu-policy</tt> files in the <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
73 They are also available from the Debian web mirrors at
74 <tt><url name="/doc/packaging-manuals/menu-policy/"
75 id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/menu-policy/"></tt>
76 and from the Debian archive mirrors at
77 <tt><url name="/doc/package-developer/menu-policy.txt.gz"
78 id="http://ftp.debian.org/debian/doc/package-developer/menu-policy.txt.gz"></tt>.
81 This document has been extracted and separated from the
82 <em>Menu</em> package to:<enumlist>
84 <p>Increase the visibility of the Menu sub policy</p>
88 Reduce the coupling between policy and
89 implementation. If this separation is not made, every
90 time we want to change menu policy, we have to arrange
91 to get the maintainer to release a new version of the
92 package, even if the package has not otherwise
93 changed. It also involves yet another layer, making the
94 policy changes that much harder to implement.</p>
100 <heading>Menu Structure</heading>
102 If you have a package which doesn't fit within the existing
103 menu hierarchy, please bring it up on the debian-devel mailing
104 list. If you have other proposals for changing the menu
105 hierarchy, or making other changes to menu policy, please
106 bring it up on debian-policy.
109 <heading>Preferred menu structure</heading>
111 Here is the authoritative list of Debian's menu
112 structure. Please do not put your packages into any other
113 sections without asking for permission first!
118 <p>normal applications</p>
122 <p>interactive database programs</p>
126 <p>text editors, word processors</p>
130 <p>wine, dosemu, etc.</p>
134 <p>image manipulation</p>
138 <p>anything relating to ham radio</p>
142 <p>math related programs</p>
146 <p>network programs that don't fit elsewhere</p>
148 <tag>Programming</tag>
150 <p>debuggers, etc.</p>
154 <p>scientific programs</p>
158 <p>simple apps, like clocks, that perform only one task</p>
162 <p>technical stuff</p>
166 <p>text oriented tools other than editors</p>
170 <p>bash, ksh, zsh, etc.</p>
174 <p>sound players and editors</p>
182 <p>system administration and monitoring tools</p>
189 <p>games and recreations</p>
193 <p>walk around virtual space, zork, MOO's, etc</p>
197 <p>any game where reflexes count</p>
201 <p>games played on a board</p>
205 <p>games involving a deck of cards</p>
209 <p>tests of ingenuity and logic</p>
213 <p>games derived from "real world" sports</p>
217 <p>games involving long term strategic thinking</p>
219 <tag>Tetris-like</tag>
221 <p>games involving falling blocks</p>
225 <p>amusements, eye-candy, etc.</p>
232 <p>programs that provide user documentation</p>
236 <p>programs that affect the whole screen</p>
241 <p>programs to lock the screen</p>
247 <tag>Root-window</tag>
249 <p>things that fill the root window</p>
254 <tag>WindowManagers</tag>
256 <p>X window managers</p>
261 <p>window manager modules</p>
268 <p>xterm and its brethren</p>