onDesktop v1.2 - manage extra desktop icons

[gyro]

This software is a 'proof of concept' for trying to find a better way to manage desktop icons in Puppy Linux.

Perceived problems:
1) Removed icons that are part of the release desktop, reappear after a ".sfs" file is added or removed with Boot Manager.
2) Desktop icons that reference the same executable, "duplicates", are reduced to a single occurrence after a ".sfs" file is added or removed with Boot Manager.
3) Installing an icon on the desktop with a ".sfs" or ".pet" file is not as straight forward as it might be. In particular a ".sfs" or ".pet" file has to specify a position on the screen to install an icon on the desktop.

Concept:
Icons on the desktop are controlled by the presence or absence of a file in a folder, (I chose /root/Desktop).
The path to the executable is embedded in the file name.
Each file can contain the other attributes for more than one icon, i.e. it supports "duplicates".
Application installation, either ".sfs" or ".pet" simply drops icon definition file(s) in the designated directory.
Normal uninstalling of ".sfs" or ".pet" removes the file(s). A consequence if this is that files in /root/Desktop cannot be modified, otherwise removing the ".sfs" file will not remove the file.
Applications can install files that only specify the "path", "label" and "arguments" of the icon. An empty position will be found for the icon.
A "snap to grid" facility should be provided to make it easy to line-up icons.

Notes:
This has been written as a stand alone add-on. It could be better integrated into Puppy, if Puppy were modified.
If the concept were to be taken seriously, it would be better written in a compilable language using a keyed data base, rather than writing in bash and using the file system as a database.

Pet: http://www.users.on.net/~wrags/onDesktop-1.2.pet
Readme: http://www.users.on.net/~wrags/onDesktop-1.2.html

gyro

Edit: updated versions of ShareInternet, NextG and ClickOtherOS have been released that contain onDesktop icon definition files in /root/Desktop