This morning I don't like free/libre software

@zarniwhoop - thanks! I do have that xdg stuff installed. On the last command, it wanted xdg-mime default gimp.desktop image/x-xcfor maybe xdg-mime default /path/to/specifi/gimp.desktop image/x-xcf.

@zarniwhoop - do you not use any file manager at all? I really like dolphin and konsole plus geany and bluefish for compiling software and writing/modifying code. I like dolphin’s little terminal at the bottom and konsole’s multitabs. For awhile I was using urxvt and spacefm. Though spacefm is pretty nice I never could get the hang of setting up urxvt.

@ff2000 - do you know what is the software package that installs the “system settings”? Is that part of Plasma or something? Is there a command line equivalent to the specific system settings options for modifying file type associations?

In SpaceFM I can delete file associations similarly as you describe. For some reason in Dolphin the little “spanner” icon box with the words “File type” doesn’t do anything, the option to modify file type information is in the UI, but clicking the box doesn’t do anything. Maybe I’m missing a library associated with Dolphin.

Trying to put some context to this issue of associating programs with file types, at least for me, there is no one single application that qualifies as “the one and only” for opening various image file types. So the concept of “default” software for opening a given file type is just useless, it’s a box into which my actual way of using software doesn’t fit.

For example, I have GIMP installed in several different prefixes and I use all the different prefixes. And I have several raw processors installed and I use all of them. Similarly with tiffs and pngs and etc.

“Open with” seems to relentlessly add new stuff to the list even when it’s a program that maybe I’ll never use again or only once a year. And each new “open with” seems to go to the top of the list.

What might be more helpful would be a way to prioritize the list so “seldom used” goes to the bottom of the list. Though I’m sure that would have landmines everywhere when trying to code up an actual implementation.

Hopefully with the xdg commands and SpaceFM (because Dolphin seem to be missing critical functionality on my Gentoo install) I can reorganize and prune all the associated file types into something more comfortable to use.

If you all hadn’t provided feedback and suggestions I’d probably be throwing stuff at my screen by now. Dragging files to the desktop files is something I’d never have thought of on my own, and likewise with the xdg commands, and pointing to the dolphin “file type” dialog jogged my memory enough so that I reinstalled SpaceFM.

@afre, yes, thanks! I did find the edit icon in PhotoFlow and was able to set an “area” white balance. For some reason the box isn’t drawn, but that’s OK as the white balance is still set anyway.

I’m on Gentoo, too. The filetypes kcm comes with kde-plasma/kde-cli-tools. Run it through dolphin or kcmshell5 filetypes.

@ff2000 - thanks!

Checking equery and portage, it seems that installing kde-cli-tools requires installing 36 other kde packages, probably bringing in the plasma desktop. Our download bandwidth is limited - adding so many new packages just to be able to use dolphin instead of spacefm to manage file defaults seems not the best course.

Hopefully file association changes made with spacefm will be picked up by dolphin. Otherwise I’ll probably just remove dolphin from my computer.

I’m still guessing there is a file somewhere that can be modified directly to manage file associations, if only one knew “which file”.

I very occasionally try file managers, but I’ve never found a benefit. I usually know where things are and either look at file names in the expected directory, or for photos I keep a text file detailing what I’m doing.

For editing I use vim in urxvt (with my own choice of TTF fonts). For other things I usually just use the application’s menu. But most of my desktops are covered in overlapping term windows from urxvt.

*** To be on the Safe Side: Joke ON ***

Well, @Elle, if you do not like free/libre, and
even toy with the idea to join the heavenly choirs in Adobe Cloud,
you could also consider the Microsoft Cloud, where you will be
greeted by system messages such as
Unknown has stopped because of Error Unknown.

*** To be on the Safe Side: Joke OFF ***

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

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I sort of miss the blue screen of death, having always considered it a challenge, back in the day. But apparently Windows doesn’t have that anymore. Maybe “Unknown has stopped because of Error Unknown” has taken its place?

Based on my brief experience with win10. Error alerts are uncommon, not because there is no error but because it is logged (and sent; or maybe not, who knows?) but not shown. When I look into them, they are more often than not generic, meaning that I wouldn’t be able to tell what the error means.

I use Windows 10 daily for work and there is definitely a BSOD. They’ve tried to make it more cute than the old Win 98 core dump BSOD, but fuck, I’m loosing work, I don’t want a QR Code an a smiley emoji.

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QR code :unicorn: :man_facepalming::woman_facepalming:. I only see them in public and commercial places. It doesn’t mean that fatal errors don’t happen any less but they don’t always lead to a BSOD because of its infamy.

Which Ubuntu version are you on? I still have the “New file” option on Xubuntu 18.04 using Thunar file manager. So I wonder if it’s not Ubuntu but Gnome and Nautilus that has changed?

18.04. Was previously on 16.04, and the change happened when I upgraded.

If you know a configuration setting that changes this, I’d gladly take it… Edit: Oh, in Nautilus… I see you’re using Thunar.

Perhaps relevant for those who want to create new files in Nautilus / Gnome Files: http://bernaerts.dyndns.org/linux/76-gnome/344-nautilus-new-document-creation-menu

@damonlynch, thanks, this’ll do just what I need, and more. A bit involved, but I’ve found spending a little time with such saves a lot of time later…

Evening, @ggbutcher,

Would a simple one-liner be easier? Like

cat > urk.txt
Hello Glenn!
[ctrl]-c

or, if you don’t want to enter something at once:

touch urk2.txt

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

I’ve been doing touch foo.txt but I’d like to get the menu item back…

Then script it and add the script as a menu item (if that works in
your distro)…

Should one of us mail you a USB with a full blown ‘everything and a kitchen sink kind of’ Plasma distribution of your choice ?

My apologies, I don’t understand. I don’t want Plasma installed on my computer at all. Nor do I want GNOME or any other full desktop. I use IceWM. on Gentoo. I use Gentoo to be able to not install the kitchen sink. I’ve used IceWM for many years now and have no intention of switching to something else until the day X is gone and Wayland is unavoidable.

Thanks to very helpful suggestions made earlier in this thread by various people, I’ve learned some nice ways to be able to open files by dragging to a desktop file, and I found that SpaceFM still allows to modify file type associations the way I’ve always done in the past without actually having to think about it.

Spacefm doesn’t require Plasma system settings to allow to modify file type associations. If Dolphin doesn’t pick up the file association changes that I make using SpaceFM, I’ll likely uninstall Dolphin.

I don’t know at what point Dolphin “morphed” to make file type associations changes require bringing in all of Plasma desktop. But the last update to Dolphin that found its way into Gentoo portage seems to be the update that brought on the silly question of whether I really do want to trust software that I installed specifically to open files of various types, to actually open said files. That’s got to be the stupidest bit of “security” going.