How to follow instructions for third-party application

[TriMoon]

@cscs

‘.’ just means current directory.

Ofcourse but that generally means the homedir of the user when a new terminal is opened

[cscs]

in which case the paths would be, ex ~/bin which you dont want.

[TriMoon]

Hmmm yea you’re correct indeed, i stand corrected

@cscs

If you want my suggestion … I’d probably put it in ~/.local/share/ and create a symlink in ~/.local/bin or a desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications

If it absolutely must go in the system … as its all bundled together with itelf, and while I hate doing it … I might just drop it all in /opt/

best option IMHO also…

[karlfee]

Yeah, I’ll go with that. Thank you everybody for your helpful and clarifying answers.

[TriMoon]

@cscs

I’d probably put it in

Better replace that “in” with “under”

[cscs]

OK fine I took that … under … consideration with an edit

[karlfee]

I unpacked the the programm under ./local/share and the symlink under .local/share/applications. Created a menu item in the menu editor and can start the program now very easily from the menu. Thanks everybody!

[TriMoon]

Just to make it clear and prevent unwanted side-effects:

1. You unpacked the program in a sub-directory of ~/.local/share right?
   (that’s what “under” meant in that context)
2. You should only put desktop files inside ~/.local/share/applications.
   (This is the place used to create a desktop file when you created your menu item using the menu editor)
3. A symbolic link in ~/.local/bin, for the binary used to start your application, is only needed when you don’t use a desktop file. as in (2)
   Or when that path is in your $PATH and want to be able to start it without using a path inside a terminal.

[karlfee]

thanks @TriMoon for bringing this up again.

1. You unpacked the program in a sub-directory of `~/.local/share` right?
(that’s what “under” meant in that context)

Yes =)

2. You should only put desktop files inside ~/.local/share/applications .
   (This is the place used to create a desktop file when you created your menu item using the menu editor)

That’s what I did.

3. A symbolic link in ~/.local/bin , for the binary used to start your application, is only needed when you don’t use a desktop file. as in (2)

Okay, I didn’t do this.

But I created a menu entry via the control panel. Which created (next to the symlink) a second (*.desktop-) file in the .local/share/applications/ folder. Not harmful I guess?

[TriMoon]

@karlfee

Which created (next to the symlink) a second (*.desktop-)

Then i would remove that symbolic link as it is not a desktop file

[karlfee]

Done! =)