Brainberry1337

wtf? is this trolling?

NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!

This thread is already over a month old, but here are my two cents anyway.

Via GUI

1. Right-click on the desktop → Create new empty file with file extension .desktop

2. Open the file in a text editor such as Kate and paste in the information for the desktop shortcut:

   [Desktop Entry]
   Type=Application
   Name=Shortcut Name
   Exec=/path/to/script.sh
   Icon=utilities-terminal
   Terminal=true
   

   Notes:

   • The Exec path to the script must of course be set accordingly.
   • If you set Terminal=false then the script will run invisibly in the background.
   • Remember to set permission to run the shortcut as a program (via right-click on the shortcut → Properties).

Via Console

This is a one-liner for the bash/fish console. It creates a desktop shortcut for the current user, fills in the example content from above and sets execution permission for the shortcut.

printf '[Desktop Entry]\nType=Application\nName=Shortcut Name\nExec=/path/to/script.sh\nIcon=utilities-terminal\nTerminal=true\n' > "$(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP)/MyShortcut.desktop" && chmod +x "$(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP)/MyShortcut.desktop"

You can change the file name of the shortcut and the contents of the file afterwards, or before you send the command to the console.

Short hint for the Desktop directory: /home/<user>/Desktop is language specific! On my german system for example it is /home/<user>/Schreibtisch

Therefore, you shouldn’t use /home/<user>/Desktop or ~/Desktop in snippets/scripts, but “$(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP)”.

Example: touch "$(xdg-user-dir DESKTOP)/MyApp.desktop"