this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I'm not certain, but I'm wondering if OP means that new programs don't automatically get a "desktop" app or whatever. I'm often annoyed when I have to manually create the file that lets me access software from the launch menu
Offtopic, but I had no use for desktop files in general, as I launch stuff from the command line, but I finally discovered a wonderful use for them. Steam creates a desktop file for Steam games it installs. Steam itself is...not all that amazing as a launcher. Gives you the last five games launched in a contextual menu from a tray icon, and a list of games you can search through in the client interface after you bring up the window and move to the Library tab. However, you can set up
rofito use desktop files as completions (one sets it up to complete on "drun"), and thenrofican act as your Steam game launcher, which is great. I can just whack a keystroke to invokerofi, and then type a few characters of the game I want and whack enter, androfiwill prioritize by last-invoked. Really nice not having to slog through the Steam interface.In the Steam interface you should be able to sort by recently used, and hide anything that's not installed. Might make it easier to find your games :)
Yeah, I've used that, and the "lite" interface, but what I want is a fast, searchable list, no mouse involvement, just with a single key combination to bring up the search, and recent game stuff, and
rofiwith drun does all of that, which was pleasant.That's basically how I use desktop files generally, the kde launch menu (similar to the old Windows "start"... I don't know what it's called) comes up when I tap
super, and then I can start typing and find what I want to launch.You can set that up to run custom scripts, but all desktop files are there by default.
I meant, for example, i have to run /usr/sbin/smartctl instead of just smartctl
Okay. I have my config files set up to add /sbin and /usr/sbin to my PATH -- that's probably a config that dates back at least a decade -- but it looks like Debian defaults to not having /usr/sbin or /sbin in PATH for non-root users; you can see this in /etc/profile, where it's only adding /usr/local/sbin, /usr/sbin, and /sbin to root's PATH, but not to other users.
If you run
su -l, then that'll give you a login shell as root, and that'll have those in the path.You can also add them to a regular user's path. I don't know what the "right way" to modify PATH for a graphical desktop is these days, so I can't give much help there; with xdm starting Xorg, which is what I do, it's to put it in a ~/.xession file, something like:
and for login bash shells, like for if you ssh into the system or log in on the console, in ~/.bash_profile, the same.
But GNOME under Wayland and all those new desktop environments probably have some way to modify PATH, something which they run at when you log in, and I don't know the appropriate place to stick those or which you use.