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I would very much like a
/usr/share/applications/python.desktop file so that
Python can be started from the Program-menu in Linux,
just like you can from the Start-menu in Windows. I
think it would be very neat and good for beginners.

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Would you be willing to provide one?

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I have attached a .desktop file and an icon. python.desktop
goes into /usr/share/applications and pycon.png into
/usr/share/pixmaps. It's only translated to Swedish because
I don't know other languages to well.

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I added German translation. Regarding the icon: I do not
like that very much. Isn't there another Python icon
available in the standard sizes?

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In trunk there are PC/py.ico, PC/pyc.ico, PC/pycon.ico. I
guess they would all work as icons, but I choose pycon.ico
because that is the icon used on windows. I also wonder if
the desktop file can be applied soon? It seems pretty
trivial and uncontroversial to me. 

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It seems that the new Python website will feature a new
icon. Perhaps that could be added to the distribution as the
default Python icon.

I'm adding a French translation, and removing the "Application" category
(which doesn't exist as per the freedesktop specification).
Also, I think the Name is too long right now. "The Python programming
language" or "Le langage de programmation Python" looks longish for a
menu entry. So I suggest just setting the Name to "Python". The only
people for which the menu entry may be useful know what Python is anyway.
PS :
the desktop entry specification
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec
the menu spec (listing possible categories)
http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/menu-spec 

I have added the Italian translation.

Added the spanish translation.

I see lots of interest and several translations. Was there an intention to add this to the distribution (or has it been)? Or is it out-of-date?

3 weeks since msg113207 and no response. Seriously, what is a reasonable time before closing as out of date?

That depends. Especially feature requests need not be closed prematurely.

I asked because there was no such thing in the Unix I once used and I have never used Linux (yet). I take Georg's answer to mean that this is not obviously obsolete and should be left open.

Don’t we expect beginners to start IDLE from their menu, and middle to advanced users to type "python" in their terminal? +0.
IDLE does have a .desktop file in my Debian, so +1 on integrating that in our source tree.

I am past beginner stage and I still open with the Start mene ;-)
If/when I install Ubuntu or other Linux, I would like to still be able to do whatever is the equivalent, as with other stuff, rather than have to open a command window and type a command.

Let me change my +0 to a +1 then :)
For reference, the file used in Debuntu for Pythonx.y.desktop: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~doko/python/pkg3.1-debian/annotate/head%3A/PVER.desktop.in
idle.desktop: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~doko/python/pkg3.1-debian/annotate/head%3A/idle.desktop.in
License unclear, author apparently doko, so I guess we’re good.

Apart from the desktop file itself, which should be a merged version of the last attachment to this report and the files in Debuntu/Fedora/whatever, there is the issue of installation. Someone has to track the desktop file spec or menu spec and edit one of the files involved in the Python build process.
I don’t know if having missed beta1 means that this will be deferred to 3.3.

Here’s a patch by Georg for the unix install machinery: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2006-July/067261.html 

I just closed #15869 as a duplicate of this. I has another patch and possibly useful discussion.
To move forward, a concrete repository patch is needed. I only see here pieces of such a patch. I do not know how much of the Windows installation files are in the repository and how much in separate files. I know even less about Linux, what 'installation' means on that system, and how multiple languages would be handled.
I should think that an addition could be made to all open branches. While anything outside of idlelib is not covered by PEP 434, I think the same principles apply.

From a downstream redistributor point of view, the key pieces it would be handy to consolidate upstream are the desktop file itself (with all the translations) and the preferred icon. It wouldn't really help much to have it integrated into "make install" since most redistributors split out tkinter and IDLE packages from the base installation anyway.
However, as Terry says, before the change can be accepted, those files need to be combined into an actual patch that:
- adds the desktop file and the icon to the Misc directory
- updates Misc/README to describe the new files