Creating desktop shortcut on Linux
2016, Dec 03
Sometimes is just annoying to open terminal each time you need some program running. This is a basic tutorial to generate a link file using the Desktop Entry Especification format. It works for KDE, GNOME and Unity desktop enviromments.
1. Create a file with extention .desktop whith the following content
$ gedit myProgram.desktop
Content:
For more details about the format check this specifications.
2. Copy your file for the default Applications Link folder
Command for user only access
$ cp myProgram.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/myProgram.desktop
Command for all user access
sudo cp myProgram.desktop /usr/share/applications/myProgram.desktop
Extra
Changing Icon
You may save your icon in system place amoung the others at /usr/share/icons and set the path at your .desktop file.
UnityLaunchers
UnityLauchers are also .desktop files with the extra habilitity of enabling right-click menus for each application. You can check the details here at Ubuntu Documentation.