Hi Gaetan, Normally, only --pkgname and --pkgdesc are needed. The sage-mathematics PKGBUILD is an extreme example. Compare with other PKGBUILDs that uses gendesk for a more balanced picture. Thanks for the new arguments, though, I added them to the list of arguments for/against gendesk: Here are the arguments for generating the .desktop files with a tool like "gendesk": * There is much duplication of code by having one .desktop file per (GUI) package. * If the .desktop specification should change in the future, there is only one tool that has to be changed, not bazillions of little .desktop files. * If there should be alternative ways of providing desktop shortcuts in the future, possibly for other desktop environments, the transition will be easier. * It's more elegant than including manually crafted files everywhere. * It provides one consistent look of .desktop files and avoids problems (for instance, one hand crafted (or upstream provided?) .desktop file used Terminal=1 instead of Terminal=true, which caused problems). Generated files are consistent, which avoids problems. * gendesk is already being used for several packages (and has been used for a while), and it seems to work fine. * Many files are generating during the prepare or build process. .desktop files should be generated too. * "I've just tried gendesk and it's pretty neat actually." * Removes complexity from the package, since fewer files are needed. Here are the arguments against generating the .desktop files with a tool like "gendesk": * It is just like including base64 encoded files directly in the PKGBUILD. (No, it's not. Contrast with other build-time generated files) * Current .desktop files should be left as they are. * Generating the .desktop files does not make the packages more "vanilla". (.desktop files are inherently non-vanilla, though). * It takes a bit of work to create a package in the first place. Adding a .desktop file or not won't make a difference in the overall burden. * The functionality should rather be in makepkg.. * The maintainer still needs to relate to .desktop files one way or the other. * Using gendesk relies on a tool to do what can be done just as easily by hand. * This adds more complexity to the prepare() function. * This adds an extra makedepends (Only a small build-time dependency, though. Most users will never see this). - Alexander / xyproto