The dock Plank does not autostart properly (which may or may not be a Mint bug; fix included)

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

 * csd version: 5.0.4+uma
 * Distribution: Mint 20.2
 * Graphics hardware *and* driver used: Intel Mesa
 * 32 or 64 bit: 64

Issue

After logging off and logging on again, Plank is slow to start and does not show 'running' indicators.

Steps to reproduce

Have Plank installed and running. Log off. Log back on.

Expected behaviour

No slow start and indicators working.

Other information

The fix seems to be as follows. (See the last post here.)

Replace

~/.config/autostart/plank.desktop

with

/usr/local/share/applications/plank.desktop

I do not know whether this is a Plank bug or a Mint bug. Even if it is a Plank bug, given that Plank bugs basically never get fixed, Mint might want to try to solve/work around the problem (in order to benefit users of Mint who use Plank).

EDIT:

Here is a 'diff' of the two files (before I overwrote the one with the other; and note that I added the delay value to the 'autostart' version of the file).

$ diff ~/.config/autostart/plank.desktop /usr/local/share/applications/plank.desktop
1a2,62
> Name=Plank
> GenericName=Dock
> Comment[am]=በጣም ቀላል
> Comment[ar]=بسيط بغباء.
> Comment[bg]=Пределно прост.
> Comment[bs]=Glupavo jednostavan.
> Comment[ca]=Estúpidament simple.
> Comment[cs]=Stupidně jednoduchý.
> Comment[da]=Super simpel.
> Comment[de]=Lächerlich einfach.
> Comment[el]=Βλακωδώς απλό.
> Comment[en_AU]=Stupidly simple.
> Comment[en_CA]=Stupidly simple.
> Comment[en_GB]=Stupidly simple.
> Comment[eo]=Stulte simple.
> Comment[es]=Estúpidamente simple.
> Comment[et]=Hämmastavalt lihtne.
> Comment[eu]=Erraza baino errazagoa.
> Comment[fi]=Todella yksinkertainen.
> Comment[fr]=Stupidement simple.
> Comment[ga]=Simplíocht shimplí.
> Comment[gd]=Cho furasta 's a ghabhas.
> Comment[gl]=Estupidamente simple.
> Comment[he]=טפשי עד כמה שזה פשוט
> Comment[hr]=Neviđeno jednostavan
> Comment[hu]=Nagyszerűen egyszerű.
> Comment[id]=Begitu sederhana.
> Comment[it]=Stupidamente semplice.
> Comment[ja]=超シンプル
> Comment[ka]=ძალიან მარტივი აი ძალიან
> Comment[ko]=어처구니없으리 만치 단순한.
> Comment[lt]=Kvailai paprastas.
> Comment[lv]=Muļķīgi vienkārši.
> Comment[ml]=അനായാസം.
> Comment[ms]=Ringkas la sangat.
> Comment[nb]=Uforstandig enkelt.
> Comment[ne]=एकदमै सरल
> Comment[nl]=Belachelijk eenvoudig.
> Comment[nn]=Idiotsikkert
> Comment[pl]=Idiotycznie prosty.
> Comment[pt]=Estupidamente simples.
> Comment[pt_BR]=Estupidamente simples.
> Comment[ro]=Stupid de simplu.
> Comment[ru]=До безумного прост.
> Comment[sk]=Primitívne jednoduchý.
> Comment[sl]=Bedasto preprost.
> Comment[sma]=dle dan aelhkies.
> Comment[sr]=Шашаво једноставно.
> Comment[sr@latin]=Glupavo jenostavan.
> Comment[sv]=Galet enkelt.
> Comment[ta]=மிகவும் எளிது
> Comment[te]=చాలా సరళమైనది.
> Comment[th]=ง่ายเหี้ยๆ
> Comment[tr]=Son derece basit.
> Comment[uk]=Просто легкий.
> Comment[uz]=Ahmoqona darajada sodda.
> Comment[vi]=Cực kì đơn giản.
> Comment[zh_CN]=简单得无语。
> Comment[zh_TW]=極簡。
> Comment=Stupidly simple.
> Categories=Utility;
4c65,66
< X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true
---
> Icon=plank
> Terminal=false
6,9d67
< Hidden=false
< Name[en_GB]=plank
< Comment[en_GB]=No description
< X-GNOME-Autostart-Delay=1

[leigh123linux]

You will need to file the issue against ubuntu plank.

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

Thanks. I have done so already (or rather I added to this existing report). Also, if I may quote myself:

Even if it is a Plank bug, given that Plank bugs basically never get fixed, Mint might want to try to solve/work around the problem (in order to benefit users of Mint who use Plank).