Correct game desktop file categories?

Markus Koschany apo at debian.org
Mon Jul 11 21:24:31 UTC 2016


Hi Petter,

thank you for raising this issue. I suggest to use the
debian-devel-games list or bug reports in the future though because only
a few people read this one which is mainly used for bug specific
discussions.


On 11.07.2016 21:14, Petter Reinholdtsen wrote:
> 
> Some days ago, I did a simple test in Debian Testing.  I used KDE,
> installed the games-strategy task file, and had a look in the KDE
> application 'Games' menu to see how many of the games failed to show up
> in the strategy submenu.  It was a few.  I reported a few bugs about
> this, and some of them are even fixed.  The problem is that the packages
> desktop file lack the StrategyGame category.
> 
> But I suspect a more structured approach is needed to fix this properly
> in time for Stretch, so I drafted a oneliner to identify all packages
> with too few categories in their desktop files:
> 
>   for p in $(apt-cache show games-strategy|grep Recommend|cut -d: -f2-|tr , " "); do for f in $(dpkg -L $p|grep /usr/share/applications/); do if ! grep -q StrategyGame $f; then echo $p; fi; done; done|sort -u

In short: games-strategy is only a metapackage that recommends certain
strategy games. How do I determine whether a game belongs to a certain
category? I use the information provided in the package description,
desktop file and debtags to deduce what metapackage should provide what
game. Also please keep in mind that games can fit into multiple categories.

That means either the game's category key is wrong or the game is really
not a strategy game and should not be recommended by games-strategy but
rather by another metapackage.


> The result is this list of packages:
> 
>   atanks

atanks is very similar to scorched3d or xscorch. All of these games
claim to be arcade games. A case can be made that they belong to
StrategyGames because they are turn-based and are more of a strategic
nature in general. ArcadeGames is a very broad category indeed but I
don't mind moving atanks to it.

>   biloba

It is part of games-strategy and games-board. Due to the description I
think it fits into both categories but it could also be recommended only
by games-board.

>   bygfoot (BTS #825716)

Some kind of football manager simulation. It would fit quite well into
games-sport. An argument can be made for simulation or strategy as well.
Matter of taste in my opinion.

>   dopewars

Difficult, either strategy or simulation.

>   endless-sky

Such games fit into the strategy category but simulation would also work.

>   gnurobots

fits into programming and strategy

>   liquidwar

A mixture of an action and strategy game. Quite unique.

>   oolite (BTS #825680)

simulation and strategy

>   openclonk (BTS #825678)

action and strategy

>   pax-britannica (BTS #825673)

strategy

>   pioneers

board game and strategy game

>   warmux

similar to hedgewars. hedgewars uses Games;StrategyGame btw

>   xscorch

see atanks and scorched3d

> 
> I suspect similar work should be done with all the game tasks, to ensure
> the games are properly grouped in the menu system.  Do you agree?
> 
> If so, what is the most efficient way to make it happen?

1. I suggest to talk to the maintainers of these games first and file
bug reports if you disagree with the current classification in their
desktop files.

2. Then file bug reports against the debian-games metapackages if you
disagree with the classification.

3. I think a game can be part of multiple categories. Severity is
between wishlist and normal. I am completely open for improvement
suggestions but I think

a) it is the responsibility of the package maintainer to ensure that the
game is shown in the correct desktop file category

b) a game can be part of multiple (debian-games) metapackages even if
there is no corresponding desktop file category.

Hope that helps

Regards,

Markus


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