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What pdmenu does
The project README describes pdmenu as a menuing system for Unix, written by Joey Hess. It says the program was designed to be easy to use, either as a login shell for inexperienced users or as a command-line menu. The README also reports color support, GPM mouse support at the Linux console, and compilation on most varieties of Unix. These are historical project-documentation claims, not current compatibility test results. Read the project README.
In practical terms, an administrator can define a menu of tasks so a user chooses an item rather than typing its command. A menu entry may run a command directly or open another menu. The README directs users to the man pages for the configuration format and to the project installation instructions for building and installing the program; its historical references to Debian and RPM distribution routes should not be treated as verified current download options.
How pdmenurc defines menus
The configuration file is conventionally named pdmenurc. The manual documents system-wide and per-user locations: /etc/pdmenurc and ~/.pdmenurc. A menu declaration supplies a menu identifier, its displayed title, and an optional explanatory line. Entries inside it can launch commands or show another menu.
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Here is the manual’s illustrative set of declarations:
menu:main:Main Menu:Things to do at foobar
show:_Games..::games
exec:_Mail::pineThe first line declares the menu identified as main, with the title “Main Menu” and the description “Things to do at foobar.” The show entry opens the menu identified as games; the exec entry runs pine. In the entry descriptions, the underscore marks the hotkey character, so _Games and _Mail identify keyboard shortcuts. This is a small illustration of the format, not a complete working configuration for every installation. Consult the pdmenurc manual page.
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Display and command-output behavior
The manual documents settings for colors, menu hotkeys, and title overrides, as well as flags that affect command execution and output. Choose output handling according to what a command produces:
displaypresents command output in a window and wraps long lines.truncatelimits output to the window rather than wrapping it.pausewaits after a command exits, giving the user time to read its result.
The manual notes that some flags conflict, so do not combine options without checking their documented behavior. It also marks the legacy single-character flag syntax as obsolete; use the documented current syntax in the manual page rather than copying old examples blindly.
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How pdmenu relates to Debian menus
pdmenu is one Unix menu program. The Debian Menu System is a broader framework used to connect package-provided menu entries with programs that display them; the two names do not refer to the same thing.
A Debian menu source package includes an example integration script that generates a pdmenurc file from Debian menu entries. The script uses preprocessor definitions to select text, virtual-console, or X11 entries. This demonstrates an integration route in Debian’s menu framework, but it does not establish whether a standalone pdmenu package is currently available or maintained. See the Debian menu source example.
Rank #4
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Debian documentation describes update-menus as a unified interface for text- and X-oriented menu programs. Separately, the Debian Wiki says the original Debian menu system is now optional and that FreeDesktop’s Desktop Menu Specification was selected as Debian’s preferred system in 2015. That context describes Debian’s broader menu infrastructure; it should not be read as a statement about pdmenu’s present maintenance status. Debian menu documentation and Debian Menu Wiki.
What is known about current support
The available project README is old, while Debian’s newer menu source shows an integration example rather than a current standalone release record. These sources therefore do not establish whether pdmenu is actively maintained, what its latest release is, or whether it is available in a current distribution’s package repositories. Check the package records and upstream project information for the Unix or Linux distribution and version you use before planning an installation.
Quick Recap
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