The current menu structure is less than ideal in certain places.

Use Cases

• Sally uses Ubuntu because her stepson installed it for her. She is confused by System Tools and System menus. She doesn't understand the separation.
• Ernie is a car salesman who uses Ubuntu for accounting, e-mail with Evolution, and occasional Web browsing. One day he realizes that there is an "Evolution" item in the "Office" menu that does exactly the same thing as the "Evolution Mail" item in the "Internet" menu. "That's a bit silly", he thinks.
• Lorelle uses Ubuntu's Text Editor regularly to edit wiki pages before pasting the text into the wiki itself. As a result, she mouses over the "File Browser" menu item several times a day on her way to the "Text Editor" item. One days she decides to try this "File Browser" thing -- only to discover that it does exactly the same thing as the "Home Folder" item in the "Places" menu. "That's a bit silly", she thinks.
• Alan, an experienced user in Linux and Gnome, has difficulty distinguishing "Multimedia Systems Selector", "Preferred Applications", "Removable Drives and Media" and "Sound", when he wants to change the default action when an audio CD is inserted.

Outstanding issues

We should probably coordinate with upstream (Gnome) during their 2.14 cycle.

Implementation

Comments

Program names versus descriptions

I think programs are much easier to find in the menu if they don't have both the name and the description. I tend to prefer the generic name if it is the default program, or the program's name where it has good name recognition or where it not the default program in the same class.

Compare the Applications->Internet menu

Current:

• BitTorrent Client

• Epiphany Web Browser
• Evolution Mail
• Firefox Web Browser
• Gaim Instant Messenger
• Liferea
• X-Chat

Suggested:

• BitTorrent

• Firefox
• Instant Messenger
• IRC
• Mail
• RSS Reader
• Web Browser

(assumes both Epiphany and Firefox are installed, where Web Browser indicates Epiphany, as the most GNOME Desktop integrated application in the category, and of course Firefox is best known as Firefox, not Firefox Web Browser or Web Browser).

I've made this change on my desktop, and find it works well with a moderate number of packages installed.

For those that have installed several programs in the same category and wish to know exactly which program is being invoked, the application icon is a good visual clue.

Purging "System Tools"

• Applications Menu Editor

  • - replace with Alt+dragging and D&D from gnome-app-install? - move to "System" > "Preferences"?

    • - already has a "Menus & Toolbars" item!

• Avahi Zeroconf Browser
  • - hide if installed by default in Dapper
• Bluetooth file sharing
  • - make appear as gnome-session service, if new gnome-session comes in Dapper/Gnome 2.14 - hide if new gnome-session doesn't appear
• Bluetooth manager
  • - hide due to being crap
• Bug Report Tool

  • - nuke bug-buddy (obsolete with LaunchpadIntegration)

• Configuration Editor
  • - Hide
• Floppy Formatter

  • - Hide due to [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=302038 Replace "Floppy Formatter" with item in Nautilus's File menu]

• Gparted

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• Network Tools

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• New Login
  • - replace with button in gnome-screensaver
• New login nested window
  • - remove entirely
• Run as different user
  • - remove, not hide
• System Log

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• System Monitor

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• Ubuntu Device Database
  • - hide (will be available during install?)

Other programs that would add themselves to System Tools need to add themselves elsewhere. -TODO - generate list after ubz

Accessories

• Archive Manager
  • - propose removing as it's available as right click in Nautilus. Inexperienced computer users may find right click less "discoverable".

    - [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=302035 Add "Make Compressed File..." to Nautilus's File menu]

Graphics

• Image Viewer
  • - Hide. - Slideshow item in Nautilus? (the Finder has it...)
• XSane Image scanning program
  • - Scanners now accessible via GIMP, so hide.

"Internet" and "Office"

• GNOME BitTorrent

  • - Hide.

• "Internet" > "Evolution Mail" vs. "Office" > "Evolution"

  • - upstream is working on seperate icons for each item ("Calendar", "Tasks", - if the above doesn't come, fix the menu item in Office to say Groupware and to use a better icon

• OpenOffice from Template

  • - hide

Sound and video

• "CD Player" - nuke
• "Recording Level Monitor"
  • - hide for Dapper - should be incorporated into Sound preferences - nuke in the meantime?
• "Rhythmbox Music Player" - keep
• "Serpentine Audio-CD Creator"
  • - should be integrated into Nautilus in an obvious way - keep in the meantime
• "Sound Juicer CD Ripper"
  • - should be integrated into Nautilus in an obvious way - keep in the meantime
• "Sound Recorder"
• Totem
  • - hide by default
• "Volume Control"
  • - should be incorporated into Sound preferences - hide in the meantime
• "Volume Monitor"
  • - should be incorporated into Sound preferences - hide in the meantime

known caveats: make certain hiding applications does not remove it from Open With menu.

• right click-menu on menu-items should contain a "hide icon"-option

Shortening "System" > "Preferences"