RE: Desktop file for Zenmap?

["Thomas Buchanan" <TBuchanan () thecompassgrp net>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nmap-dev-bounces () insecure org 
> [mailto:nmap-dev-bounces () insecure org] On Behalf Of Fyodor
> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 4:34 PM
> To: nmap-dev () insecure org
> Subject: Desktop file for Zenmap?
>
> I noticed a patch on the Debian bug tracker which provides .desktop
> files for Zenmap.  It includes one for normal execution, and one which
> runs Zenmap as root (though it uses some sort of su-to-root command
> which may be Debian specific).  You can find the bug report and the
> followup patch here:
>
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=457799
>
> So the questions are:
>
> o Does anyone know how what OS distributions are likely to benefit
>   from these .desktop files?  Do the vast majority of current Linux
>   distributions support them?  Is the main benefit to having such
>   files that Zenmap would appear on the Application menu, and maybe as
>   a desktop icon?
>
> o Should the Nmap installer include a Zenmap .desktop file on 
> UNIX systems?
>
> o If so, what should we do about running as root?  Make two icons, as
>   in this example?
>
> o What do people think of the .desktop files That David posted in the
>   bug tracker?  Any changes we should make?
>
> Cheers,
> Fyodor

The format of .desktop files is now a standard published by
freedesktop.org (FDO):
http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec

Recent versions of GNOME, KDE, and XFCE all support the FDO specs, so
this would be a great way to have Zenmap appear in the Application menus
for most current Linux distributions.

I think shipping a .desktop file in the official Nmap sources would give
us the best chance for consistency between different distributions,
although some would probably patch it for their own unique purposes.

Having a separate .desktop file for root access is where it gets a
little tricky.  Different distributions have different methods for
obtaining root privileges, mostly divided between using sudo or plain
old 'su'.  Then there are the various graphical wrappers (gksu, gksudo,
kdesudo, etc).  Debian (and derivatives, such as Ubuntu) have a generic
wrapper called 'su-to-root', but I don't think that's widespread enough
to use.

So, my suggestion is to have a single .desktop file that runs as the
normal user, and let distributions provide their own methods for running
as root.  This is what Wireshark does, by the way.

The first .desktop file attached to the bug that you posted looks like a
good starting point, but the Icon entry would probably need to be
updated, as Zenmap doesn't have a .xpm logo, as far as I can tell.
Also, it would probably be better to switch the GNOME category to GTK,
as I don't think Zenmap actually links to any GNOME-specific libraries.

Thanks,

Thomas

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