I was just noticing that several of the applications in pkg-application (the PackageKit app) have cool app-specific icons (it really makes the experience much better). So my question question is... how did they get there, and how do I add them for the packages I maintain? I've searched on the fedoraproject.org wiki to no avail.

Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like to see something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel packages.

On 2009-01-28 at 16:17:51 -0500, Bill Nottingham <notting(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote: > Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. (rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu) said: >> Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. >> >> It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like to see >> something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel packages. > > The problem is you'd either need to: > > - include icons in the metadata (which gets very large, very fast) > - create a package that consists of all the icons that may be in > the distro (which gets very messy to maintain, very fast) > > Neither of these are particularly good solutions. Well, we do have a PackageDB. Why couldn't we permit maintainers to go to: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/packagedb Then, on the page for the package (once logged in, of course), click on the icon next to the package name (a question mark by default) and upload an icon. Then, extend the PackageDB API such that PackageKit tries to call out to PackageDB to get icons on a per package basis (also, as a list of packages).

On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 10:23 PM, Tom spot Callaway <tcallawa(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote: > On 2009-01-28 at 16:17:51 -0500, Bill Nottingham <notting(a)redhat.com&gt; wrote: >> Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. (rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu) said: >>> Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. >>> >>> It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like to see >>> something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel packages. >> The problem is you'd either need to: >> >> - include icons in the metadata (which gets very large, very fast) >> - create a package that consists of all the icons that may be in >> the distro (which gets very messy to maintain, very fast) >> >> Neither of these are particularly good solutions. > Well, we do have a PackageDB. Why couldn't we permit maintainers to go to: > > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/packagedb > > Then, on the page for the package (once logged in, of course), click on > the icon next to the package name (a question mark by default) and > upload an icon. Then, extend the PackageDB API such that PackageKit > tries to call out to PackageDB to get icons on a per package basis > (also, as a list of packages). Doesn't sound like a good idea. Unless we have packageDB mirrors.

Bill Nottingham wrote: > Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. (rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu) said: >> Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. >> >> It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like to see >> something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel packages. > > The problem is you'd either need to: > > - include icons in the metadata (which gets very large, very fast) > - create a package that consists of all the icons that may be in > the distro (which gets very messy to maintain, very fast) > > Neither of these are particularly good solutions. > I agree that neither of those are good solutions, but there is another option. Currently, the icons reside in each package and the desktop entry file (also in the individual packages) is used to associate the package with the icon. Why couldn't devel packages (and others without desktop entry files) follow a similar approach containing the icon and association?

On Wed, 2009-01-28 at 14:24 -0700, Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. wrote: > Bill Nottingham wrote: > > Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. (rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu) said: > >> Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. > >> > >> It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like to > see > >> something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel packages. > > > > The problem is you'd either need to: > > > > - include icons in the metadata (which gets very large, very fast) > > - create a package that consists of all the icons that may be in > > the distro (which gets very messy to maintain, very fast) > > > > Neither of these are particularly good solutions. > > > > I agree that neither of those are good solutions, but there is another > option. > > Currently, the icons reside in each package and the desktop entry file > (also in the individual packages) is used to associate the package with > the icon. > > Why couldn't devel packages (and others without desktop entry files) > follow a similar approach containing the icon and association? I think the problem then is you don't see the icon for the package until you've installed the package.

On 1/28/09, Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. <rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu&gt; wrote: > Jesse Keating wrote: >> On Wed, 2009-01-28 at 14:24 -0700, Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. wrote: >>> Bill Nottingham wrote: >>> > Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. (rvinyard(a)cs.nmsu.edu) said: >>> >> Ahhh... I see that now, and they're already there. >>> >> >>> >> It's a shame that's the only mechanism for adding icons. I'd like >>> to >>> see >>> >> something other than cardboard boxes when looking for devel >>> packages. >>> > >>> > The problem is you'd either need to: >>> > >>> > - include icons in the metadata (which gets very large, very fast) >>> > - create a package that consists of all the icons that may be in >>> > the distro (which gets very messy to maintain, very fast) >>> > >>> > Neither of these are particularly good solutions. >>> > >>> >>> I agree that neither of those are good solutions, but there is another >>> option. >>> >>> Currently, the icons reside in each package and the desktop entry file >>> (also in the individual packages) is used to associate the package >>> with >>> the icon. >>> >>> Why couldn't devel packages (and others without desktop entry files) >>> follow a similar approach containing the icon and association? >> >> I think the problem then is you don't see the icon for the package >> until >> you've installed the package. > > But, aren't they currently harvesting them from the packages and desktop > entries? Yes, as soon as you install the package, PackageKit parses the desktop file and adds the icon file to a local database.

> Or, does pkg-application only show the icons for the packages I > currently > have installed? Yup. The only way this could work for not-installed files would be for the application icons to be put on the mirrors, and for PackageKit to generate a per-user cache of icons in the session.

Rick L. Vinyard, Jr. wrote: > What about using the same technique to harvest them from the repository > and build an rpm? PackageKit would become very slow reading all that metadata. Goes back to the same problem Bill pointed out earlier.