this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Some apps have weird names and I forget what they're called. Showing a "new" badge, even if it's just for the first few times I open the app, makes it more likely that I'll remember the app's name.
You can set most KDE menus to show the "Comment" key of the .desktop files instead of the "Name" key. So "KDE Advanced Text Editor" instead of "Kate".
Packages can come with several "programs" that aren't necessarily named the same as the package. Example: Calibre installs menu items for "Calibre", "EBookViewer" and "EBookEditor" on my distro.
It's not about forgetting...it' about helping to quickly find what you just installed and what is all included.
OP specifically said "forget", that's what I was referring to.
I dunno man.
It's not like linux applications ever have different app-names in the menu, when compared to the package name you just saw when installing it.
That has never tripped me up. No. Never.
/S
I install graphical and visual design apps. And I'll navigate to the category by mouse. I don't memorise the names of all my apps. I'm not in IT, and I'm not working with text all the time. I'll right click the app icon and go 'Add to favourites', so I have a highly productive, 1 click access to important apps. I'm interested in usability, am not a beginner and I know my UI and settings well. I can see why people find this tiny green dot useful. It's OK if you are not into usability. But note that there are many different user types, with different needs at different times. And the flexibility of KDE Plasma makes it a really great desktop environment.
Sound like a really nice person /s
It's more about which category a particular specific software belongs. If a kid installs an educational app/game that teaches programming by giving instructions to a turtle in order to draw a graphic/picture (I think I have seen something like that before). Which category should it be? games? education? development? graphics?
I personally don't use this kind of menus with categories, I prefer dmenu style launchers where you type to search what you need. But if I was the kind of people that do use this kind of menus I would probably find that kind of indication useful.
You are right, the marker at the category level definitely makes sense to find the application initially.