[BUG-6046] Use exo-open instead of defaulting to x-www-browser to launch URLs if running in XFCE

[sl-service-account]

How would you like the feature to work?

As it's stated in $INSTALL_DIR/etc/launch_url.sh, the way SL opens URLs externally:

# On Unixoids we try, in order of decreasing priority:
# - $BROWSER if set (preferred)
# - Default GNOME browser
# - Default KDE browser
# - x-www-browser
# - The first browser in $BROWSER_COMMANDS that is found.

XFCE naturally it doesn't use either $GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION or $KDE_FULL_SESSION, therefore the script defaults to x-www-browser.

Now, XFCE has the ability to set its own default browser using the Settings Manager, and it also has its own gnome-open analogue in exo-open; however this does not affect whatever x-www-browser points to, which means that exo-open and x-www-browser won't always necessarily launch the same browser.

One way to allow SL to respect the preferred XFCE browser that I've found is to add the following to launch_url.sh, before line 60:

# Launch the default XFCE browser.
if [ "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" = "XFCE" ] && which exo-open >/dev/null; then
    exo-open "$URL" &
    exit
fi

Why is this feature important to you? How would it benefit the community?

It's mostly a convenience for XFCE users, where it's more convenient to switch browsers with the Settings Manager, than it is to swap the x-www-browser with update-alternatives.

Original Jira Fields

| Field | Value | | ------------- | ------------- | | Issue | BUG-6046 | | Summary | Use exo-open instead of defaulting to x-www-browser to launch URLs if running in XFCE | | Type | New Feature Request | | Priority | Unset | | Status | Been Triaged | | Resolution | Triaged | | Reporter | Nedrae Messmer (nedrae.messmer) | | Created at | 2014-05-16T02:50:41Z | | Updated at | 2014-05-22T18:24:05Z | ``` { 'Business Unit': ['Platform'], 'Date of First Response': '2014-05-22T13:24:05.973-0500', 'How would you like the feature to work?': 'As it\'s stated in $INSTALL_DIR/etc/launch_url.sh, the way SL opens URLs externally:\r\n\r\n# On Unixoids we try, in order of decreasing priority:\r\n# - $BROWSER if set (preferred)\r\n# - Default GNOME browser\r\n# - Default KDE browser\r\n# - x-www-browser\r\n# - The first browser in $BROWSER_COMMANDS that is found.\r\n\r\nXFCE naturally it doesn\'t use either $GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION or $KDE_FULL_SESSION, therefore the script defaults to x-www-browser.\r\n\r\nNow, XFCE has the ability to set its own default browser using the Settings Manager, and it also has its own gnome-open analogue in exo-open; however this does not affect whatever x-www-browser points to, which means that exo-open and x-www-browser won\'t always necessarily launch the same browser.\r\n\r\nOne way to allow SL to respect the preferred XFCE browser that I\'ve found is to add the following to launch_url.sh, before line 60:\r\n\r\n# Launch the default XFCE browser.\r\nif [ "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" = "XFCE" ] && which exo-open >/dev/null; then\r\n exo-open "$URL" &\r\n exit\r\nfi\r\n', 'Target Viewer Version': 'viewer-development', 'Why is this feature important to you? How would it benefit the community?': "It's mostly a convenience for XFCE users, where it's more convenient to switch browsers with the Settings Manager, than it is to swap the x-www-browser with update-alternatives.", } ```

[sl-service-account]

Alexa Linden commented at 2014-05-22T18:24:06Z

Thank you for your suggestion.