This is a good first start but creates some new problems due to the convoluted layout code in the applet: When the panel is really small and forces things to be smaller than the preferred size, the icons shrink further but the spacing between them doesn't adjjust anymore.

Weng please finish this patch for me since you know your code better. Basically, the goal is that in a panel, the icons don't grow beyond System Settings -> Icons -> Advanced -> Panel -> Size as we've implemented elsewhere for 5.10.

We tag 5.10 on Thursday so there's not much time if we want kimpanel to behave well.

For 5.11/12 we should finally look into fixing all of this - instead of being a standalone applet kimpanel should create SNIs for every Status Icon that go into the system tray, and have a suitable distinct category so we can sort them correctly in the tray layout. Then hiding can be done via the tray settings etc etc.