Hi,
For my client's desktops, I'm usually customizing the various Linux desktops I'm installing. I'm using custom icon themes (Elementary), custom system fonts (Droid Sans), and one of the things I also customize are desktop menu entries.
Here's an example of what I do on a Slackware+Xfce-based desktop, so you get the idea. Once all applications are installed, I run the cleanmenu.sh script:
http://www.microlinux.fr/microlinux/desktop-14.2-64bit/tools/
As you can see, this script replaces the various *.desktop files in /usr/share/applications and similar places with my own custom *.desktop files:
http://www.microlinux.fr/microlinux/desktop-14.2-64bit/tools/desktop/
This solution has worked very well over the years. There are a few reasons I'm doing this. Most of my users come from a Windows-centric world, so it's better for them if the menu sports something like "Office>Presentation Software" instead of "LibreOffice Impress". Another reason is visual consistency. BTW, the "Elementary Xfce" icon theme is great not only for Xfce, but also for other desktops, and it fits great in corporate environments needing something sober and not too distracting. Last but not least, some menu entries are better organized in different categories. IMHO, the screenshot utility should default to "Graphics" and not to "Utility", and Brasero should be in "Utilities" and not in "Multimedia".
Curiously enough, some menu entries stubbornly refuse to have their category redefined.
1. When I edit gnome-terminal.desktop and define "Categories=System;", it won't appear in "Outils systèmes" as expected but remains in "Utilitaires".
2. I have a category "Divers" (something like "Misc") with a single desktop entry for Printer Configuration. Now when I edit system-config-printer.desktop and define something like "Categories=System;", the "Divers" category remains there and the menu entry won't budge.
Most of the menu entries can be redefined OK, and they appear in the new category. Why a handful of desktop entries would not work remains a mystery. This looks damn well like a bug, although I wouldn't even know how to call it.
Any ideas?
Cheers from the sunny South of France,
Niki