Nixpkgs: firefox/thunderbird: no applications are offered to open downloaded files

[fkz]

For example, if I download a .pdf file or want to open a .pdf attachment out of thunderbird, no application is available per default. I have to browse the executables and set it to something like /run/current-system/sw/bin/evince the first time I want to open a .pdf attachement (similarly with firefox). Ideally, the default applications should somehow be configurable from nix.

[vcunat]

IMHO it seems like Mozilla's apps don't follow XDG specs (or not exactly), as we do install *.desktop files, and other apps do know how to find these, e.g. thunar shows a good open with suggestion list when I click a PDF file.

[Mathnerd314]

Mozilla uses a Gnome API. I have Gnome installed and it seems to work OK (not great, it seems to default to using gnome applications instead of kde, even when I'm running kde). Maybe it uses a cache which is created by gnome-shell.

[fkz]

I use KDE5 currently, there it doesn't work. (when no gnome is installed there are also no gnome applications offered obviously). I have no idea how to fix this.

[Profpatsch]

(triage) Is this still a problem?

[vcunat]

I believe it hasn't changed, though I may've missed something during the last two months.

[DamienCassou]

Profpatsch [email protected] writes:

Is this still a problem?

it is!

Damien Cassou
http://damiencassou.seasidehosting.st

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without
losing enthusiasm." --Winston Churchill

[cumber]

This is still a problem. I use Thunderbird with xmonad as my window manager (without gnome installed); I can't even open web links in emails without manually finding the path to my browser in the store.

[johnramsden]

Is there a solution for this? Or a workaround? I can't open any links in Thunderbird and it's fairly irritating.

[vcunat]

I worked around by choosing the application once (for each file type) and it remembered. EDIT: I chose paths like /run/current-system/sw/bin/foo or ~/.nix-profile/bin/foo.

[mmahut]

Any news on this issue?

[ghost]

This is still an issue.

[michaelpj]

Hmm, I thought I fixed this at least partially in https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/44866. There's definitely something non-standard going on in there since xdg-open does the right thing already.

[ghost]

@michaelpj I spoke too soon. After today's update everything works correctly for me. Also fixed Telegram Desktop's habit of opening my non-default browser.

[stale[bot]]

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