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This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
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This document is distributed as the menu-policy files
in the Debian package
This document has been extracted and separated from the
Menu package to: Increase the visibility of the Menu sub policy
Reduce the coupling between policy and
implementation. If this separation is not made, every
time we want to change menu policy, we have to arrange
to get the maintainer to release a new version of the
package, even if the package has not otherwise
changed. It also involves yet another layer, making the
policy changes that much harder to implement.
If you have a package which doesn't fit within the existing menu hierarchy, please bring it up on the debian-devel mailing list. If you have other proposals for changing the menu hierarchy, or making other changes to menu policy, please bring it up on debian-policy.
Here is the authoritative list of Debian's menu structure. Packages must be placed in leaf sections.
Normal applications Tools to aid people with disabilities or for machines
lacking usual input devices. Examples: gok, yasr, dasher. Anything relating to HAM radio. Examples: baken, hamsoft, twlog Interactive database programs, collection managers,
address books, bibliography tools, etc. gaby, alexandria, mdbtools Editors, other than office word processors, for
text-based information. Examples: ksubtile, nano, hexedit Educational and training softwares. Examples: gtypist, gcompris, quiz Software that allows you to run non-native
software or more than one OS at a time. Examples: wine, dosemu, qemu Tools for file management, archiving,
searching, CD/DVD burning, backup, etc. Examples: file-roller, mc, baobab 2D and 3D graphics manipulation software. Examples: gimp, inkscape, imagemagick Software that allows you to interface with mobile
devices (phones, PDAs, etc.). Examples: kandy, gnokii, gnome-pilot Mail, USENET news, chat, instant messaging,
IP telephony, video conferencing software, etc. Examples: xchat, gaim, mutt File transfer software such as download
managers, FTP clients, P2P clients, etc. Examples: amule, gftp, d4x Network monitoring software Examples: gip, ettercap, iptstate Web browsers, tools for offline browsing, etc. Examples: elinks, epiphany-browser, webhttrack Web feed (RSS, Atom, etc.) and podcast aggregators.
Examples: akregator, kitty, liferea Office suites, word processors, spreadsheets,
CRM, ERP, financial sofware, etc. Examples: openoffice.org, tinyerp-client, gnucash IDEs, debuggers, etc. Examples: anjuta, gdb, eclipse Timetable managers, group task trackers,
bug tracking software, etc. Examples: planner, bugzilla, gnotime Astronomy-related software. Examples: celestia, spacechart, stellarium Biology-related software. Examples: arb, ncbi-tools-x11, seaview Chemistry-related software. Examples: chemtool, kalzium, xdrawchem Software designed for processing, extracting,
and presenting generic scientific data. Examples: fityk, ygraph, mn-fit Circuit design tools, simulators and
assemblers for microprocessors, etc Examples: geda, gnucap, tkgate CAD, UML tools, diagram-drawing and
other engineering-related software. Examples: tcm, dia, qcad Geoscience-related software. Examples: earth3d, qgis, therion Mathematics-related software. Examples: gcalctool, snappea, xeukleides Medicine-related software. Examples: mssstest, gnumed-client, xmedcon Physics-related software. Examples: kxterm, ifrit, paw Social sciences-related software. Examples: gnomesword, hanzim, bibletime Various shells to be used inside a terminal emulator. Examples: bash, ksh, zsh Sound players, editors, and rippers/recorders. Examples: beep-media-player, grip, audacity Administrative and system configuration utilities,
also tools for personal user settings. Examples: gnome-control-center, configure-debian, gksu Tools for manipulating specific hardware,
especially non-standard laptop hardware. Examples: toshutils, nvclock-gtk, nvtv This section is reserved for language-env as a
special case. System information and monitoring tools, log viewers,
etc. Examples: top, hal-device-manager, gtkdiskfree Package managers and related tools. Examples: aptitude, deborphan, smartpm Security, cryptography and privacy related software,
antiviruses, tools to track and report bugs, etc. Examples: gpgkeys, bastille, avscan Graphical terminal emulators. Examples: xterm, gnome-terminal, rxvt Text oriented tools like dictionaries, OCR,
translation, text analysis software, etc. Examples: kdrill, stardict, turkey TV-in, TV-out, FM radio, teletext browsers, etc. Examples: gradio, gatos, alevt Software for viewing images, documents
and other (non-video) media. Examples: gqview, evince, gthumb Video players, editors, and rippers/recorders. Examples: istanbul, totem, kino Software for web site editing, web
programming, and site administration. Examples: bluefish, screem, gphpedit Games that involve a lot of action
and require fast reflexes. Examples: xsoldier, supertux, xmoto Role playing and adventure games,
interactive movies and stories, etc. Examples: beneath-a-steel-sky, egoboo, kq Tetris-like games involving falling blocks. Examples: crack-attack, frozen-bubble, netris Games played on a board. Examples: phalanx, xshogi, xboard Games involving a deck of cards. Examples: pysol, ace-of-penguins, xpat2 Tests of ingenuity and logic. Examples: xmpuzzles, sgt-puzzles, enigma Simulations of the real world
in all detail and complexity. Examples: flightgear, torcs Games involving long-term strategic thinking. Examples: wesnoth, widelands, netpanzer Server browsers, configurators, editors, and other
game-related tools that are not games themselves. Examples: xqf, crystalspace Amusements, eye-candy, entertaining
demos, screen hacks (screensavers), etc. Examples: xdesktopwaves, xphoon, xpenguins programs that provide user documentation Examples: debian-reference, apt-howto, dhelp Tools for blanking the screen. Entries of screen hacks and
configuration GUIs should go to other appropriate sections.
Examples: xscreensaver, xlockmore Tools for locking the screen. Examples: xscreensaver, xlockmore X window managers. Examples: fluxbox, metacity, waimea FVWM-based window manager modules. As only modules related to
the running window-manager are displayed, do not create
subsections for specific window-managers. Examples: fvwm, fvwm-gnome, fvwm95 This section is reserved for wmaker as a special case. All wmaker specific entries must go here.