If I am compiling gnome-control-center-2.26.0 for binary redistribution via a package-manager, I need to make sure that no "live" global indices and other system files on the build-farm machine are altered. However, font-viewer/Makefile.am requires a patch to make that happen. Here's the problem:

> install-data-local: install-gconf-schemas install-desktop-database
> 
> if GCONF_SCHEMAS_INSTALL
> install-gconf-schemas:
> 	if test -z "$(DESTDIR)"; then \
> 	  GCONF_CONFIG_SOURCE=$(GCONF_SCHEMA_CONFIG_SOURCE) $(GCONFTOOL) --makefile-install-rule fontilus.schemas; \
> 	fi
> else
> install-gconf-schemas:
> endif
> 
> install-desktop-database: install-desktopDATA
> 	update-desktop-database $(DESTDIR)$(desktopdir)

If I ./configure --disable-schemas-install, the insertion of the .schemas data into the local gconf database is disabled during 'make install'. In other makefiles, there is control over update-mime-databaes as well. However, the .desktop is always merged into the local machine's desktop database. That's bad...control-center isn't actually installed here in this context, so it's not correct behavior to put any data or pointers related to it in the live caches.

Other packages implement a ./configure --disable-update-desktop (with several variations on this name) to inhibit running of update-desktop-database. Would be helpful to packagers if gnome-control-center also had this feature.