I'm running fc3. Using gnome as the desktop, and I want to customize the applications menu and sub-menus. I've read the documentation, and it says I should be able to right click a menu, sub menu or item and select "remove" should I wish to delete the object, but this is always greyed out - even as root! Also if I right click an item in a sub menu and select "Entire menu", the option "Add new item to this menu" is also greyed out.

If I open nautilus and browse to "applications:///" then try to create a new item, delete and item or drag and drop a filename.desktop shortcut into either "applications" or one of the sub-menus, I get an error: Error copying to applications:///Accessories(or whatever sub-menu) The destination disk is read-only."

What is happening here? Why can root not do these things? Have I broken something? Where the heck is the "applications:///" file-system anyway?

Any ideas?

Okay - found the answer ---

Bugzilla bug id 142111.

"It's a feature not a bug ..."

Well, it will be a feature, eventually. Right now the workaround is to edit the contents of /etc/xdg/menus - look for the .menu files. They seem to be XML, so I haven't attempted to edit them manually for fear of breaking something, but it does tell you what the "Categories" entry in the appropriate .desktop file should be to include it in a given menu.

Also, you could use the contents as an example and try to write your own sub-menus manually. You can edit the files with vi or gedit, or if you have an XML editor, you could use that.

Next you look at the .desktop files in /usr/share/applications and use those as a model for your new item. The "Categories=" entry tells panel which sub-menu to put it in.

Ugly, but ....