desktop shortcuts

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als123
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:28 am

desktop shortcuts

Post by als123 »

Hello All,

Please know that I am very new to Linux and LXDE, but I've found something I think others may use. To create a shortcut on the desktop it would seem that just creating a link there would be enough. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I wanted Netscape on my desktop and I completed this task by the following:

Code: Select all


To create shortcut on desktop

First, make sure you are in the Desktop directory

cd /home/username/Desktop

Second create a link from the “executable” file to the /usr/share/applications

username@username~/Desktop$ sudo ln -s /home/als/navigator/navigator /usr/share/applications 

Then using that link, create another link to the Desktop

username@username~/Desktop$ sudo -s /usr/share/applications/navigator /home/als/Desktop 


I know this sounds redundant and maybe there is a better way to do this, if so, I'd appreciate anything that would make my Linux experience a little easier. As you can probably guess, I like to tinker with such things, but I'm always open to an easier way.

For the respondents: Please assume I know nothing about LXDE or Linux, because this is true. So any help you offer should be so easy "a caveman can do it" :P

I hope this helps someone,somewhere ;)
aus9
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:42 am
Location: Australia

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by aus9 »

hi

There may be easier ways but if its only an application and its icon working on your desktop.....try this

open pcmanfm
navigate to /usr/share/applications.....or (other executable files with icons..folder)
assuming you are right handed...right hand click icon and copy it into clipboard....your target application icon
Click into /home/yourname/Desktop
click into right hand pane.NOT under name...but say under filetype then right hand click and select paste
(alternatively press and hold down keyboard key CTRL and v to paste)

2) if you click into area under name....and use RH click you do not get the option to paste and it thinks you are trying to do something with the existing file you selected.

3) Tip...if you have a lot of icons to copy into desktop ....make sure you create bookmarks for those folders in pcmanfm

4) If after all that...the icon fails to run....right hand click its icon in pcmanfm....and open with leafpad (or text editor)...do the same to a working icon and compare what should happen....ignoring the fact that some applications need mime rules etc
DixieDancer
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 1:15 pm

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by DixieDancer »

Oh my, I'm not nearly geeky enough, I guess. I just opened PCManFM, navigated to my applications (usr/share/applications) and there were the icons for all my apps. I simply dragged the ones I wanted to my desktop and dropped them there. Done.
als123
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:28 am

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by als123 »

Yes, these solutions do work, if the application originate in the /usr/share/applications/.

Unfortunately, when i downloaded and installed netscape, it created a directory in my /home/username/directory.

aus9, I'll give your copy solution a try, that didn't work the first time, but I'll try again.

Thanks for the reponses
als123
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:28 am

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by als123 »

aus9,

I tried your approach and it did give me a desktop icon, but I could not execute it. Is there a way to execute a script file from the desktop?

Thanks
craigevil
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:48 am
Location: down the rabbit hole
Contact:

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by craigevil »

als123 wrote:aus9,

I tried your approach and it did give me a desktop icon, but I could not execute it. Is there a way to execute a script file from the desktop?

Thanks
I have Firefox in my /home this is the Firefox.desktop i use:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Name[en_US]=Firefox
Exec=/home/craig/Downloads/firefox/firefox %u
Icon=/home/craig/Downloads/firefox/icons/mozicon50.xpm
StartupNotify=true
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;
MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;

Just change the Exec and Icon paths to where Netscape is located.
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CaptainColin
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:02 am

Re: desktop shortcuts

Post by CaptainColin »

To create a desktop icon which is an executable script:

1 right click on the dektop and select to create a file;

2 open the file and copy the scipt in to it;

3 on the desktop select the file' properties and change the permissions to make it executable.

Then,when you click on it, it will ask you if you want to execute (or run) it.
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