Trouble getting chromium-browser to run successfully on Ubuntu v20.04

Question

I had initially created a couple of directories in /home, which got filled with the content of previously successful work dirs. Consequently, enabling me to try/test/adapt one, and continue on; moving quickly... I settled on one, left the softlink coupled to the chosen dir, and since have installed all manners of working application/drivers/etc from the "Ux Repository" via Synaptic, to date; including Firefox & Chrome.

Today, I found it necessary to install another valued browser (Chromium), only to end up with error message result indicated below. One can also note that every other install was able to set up, and leave it's config stuff in it's ~/.config dir. Thus, I find it frustrating to note that there does not exist a ~/.config/[cC]hromium[-browser] directory there, as well?

Moreover, Chromium also should not need fail in such a manner, as the dir that it claims to have trouble creating, already exists, and is usable? So, is there an existing modification/code addition that I might be able to apply, to enable proper execution with this described setup; other than creating a "odoncaoaB" user, and su'ing to it in order to make use of Chromium every time hereafter? Cheers odoncaoa

/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 13:49
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[27]$ **chromium-browser**
2020/06/09 13:50:33.298865 cmd_run.go:563: WARNING: XAUTHORITY environment value is not a clean path: "/home/odoncaoaB/.Xauthority"
cannot create user data directory: /home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium/1182: Not a directory
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 14:06
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[41]$ cd ..; ll
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  5 root     root     4096 Apr 12 14:48 .
drwxr-xr-x 19 root     root     4096 Feb 28 22:01 ..
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root     root        9 Mar  5 14:47 odoncaoa -> odoncaoaB
drwxr-xr-x 17 odoncaoa users    4096 Mar  5 14:46 odoncaoa_
drwxr-xr-x 39 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Jun  9 13:12 odoncaoaB
drwxrwxr-x  2 u0_a239  u0_a239  4096 Apr 12 14:48 u0_a239
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 15:21
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[41]$ l .config
 ./                  deluge/                google-chrome/   mpv/               user-dirs.dirs
 ../                 enchant/               gtk-2.0/         nemo/              user-dirs.locale
 atril/              epiphany/              gtk-3.0/         obs-studio/        vlc/
 autostart/          filemanager-actions/   ibus/            pcmanfm/           xfce4/
 celluloid/          FreeFileSync/          libfm/           pulse/             yelp/
 cinnamon-layout/    gedit/                 libreoffice/     QtProject.conf
 cinnamon-session/   GIMP/                  lxterminal/      rtorrent/
'Code Industry'/     gmpc/                  menus/           streamtuner2/
 dconf/              goa-1.0/               mimeapps.list    update-notifier/
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 14:02
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[36]$ grep odoncaoa /etc/passwd
odoncaoa:x:1000:100:Douglas Randall:/home/odoncaoa:/bin/bash
home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-09 16:08
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[49]$ grep users /etc/group
users:x:100:odoncaoa
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 14:25
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[49]$ which chromium-browser
/usr/bin/chromium-browser
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 14:26
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[50]$ file /usr/bin/chromium-browser
/usr/bin/chromium-browser: POSIX shell script, ASCII text executable
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 14:05
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[39]$ set | grep 'odoncaoa'
HOME=/home/odoncaoa
XAUTHORITY=/home/odoncaoa/.Xauthority
home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-09 16:24
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[52]$ cat .Xauthority | od -c
0000000 001  \0  \0  \n   t   u   f   F   X   7   0   5   d   u  \0 001
0000020   0  \0 022   M   I   T   -   M   A   G   I   C   -   C   O   O
0000040   K   I   E   -   1  \0 020 326 257 220 035 035 277   e 016  \a
0000060 275 336   / 221 321 035   8
0000067
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 13:52
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[40]$ find $HOME/snap -print
/home/odoncaoa/snap
/home/odoncaoa/snap/gnome-system-monitor
/home/odoncaoa/snap/gnome-system-monitor/current
/home/odoncaoa/snap/gnome-system-monitor/common
/home/odoncaoa/snap/gnome-system-monitor/127
/home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium
/home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium/current
/home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium/common
/home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium/1182
/home/odoncaoa/snap/chromium/1165
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 15:20
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[39]$ ll snap/ch*
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 5 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Jun  9 12:57 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Mar 20 13:31 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Mar 20 13:31 1165
drwxr-xr-x 2 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Mar 20 13:31 1182
drwxr-xr-x 2 odoncaoa odoncaoa 4096 Mar 20 13:31 common
lrwxrwxrwx 1 odoncaoa users       4 Jun  9 12:57 current -> 1182
/home 2020-06-09 14:08
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[41]$ set | grep 'XDG_RUNTIME_DIR'
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
/home 2020-06-09 14:16
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[44]$ ll /run/user
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  3 root     root    60 Jun  9 13:12 .
drwxr-xr-x 35 root     root  1000 Jun  9 13:19 ..
drwx------ 11 odoncaoa users  360 Jun  9 13:19 1000
/home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-09 16:24
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[53]$ l /run/user/1000
./    dbus-1/  gvfs/          keyring/            .portals-unavailable         speech-dispatcher/
../   dconf/   ICEauthority   pcmanfm-socket--0=  pulse/                       systemd/
bus=  gnupg/   inaccessible/  pk-debconf-socket=  snapd-session-agent.socket=  update-notifier.pid
/home 2020-06-09 14:16
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[46]$ ll /run/user/1000
total 4
drwx------ 11 odoncaoa users 360 Jun  9 13:19 .
drwxr-xr-x  3 root     root   60 Jun  9 13:12 ..
srw-rw-rw-  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:12 bus
drwx------  3 odoncaoa users  60 Jun  9 13:12 dbus-1
drwx------  2 odoncaoa users  60 Jun  9 13:12 dconf
drwx------  2 odoncaoa users 140 Jun  9 13:12 gnupg
dr-x------  2 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:12 gvfs
-rw-------  1 odoncaoa users 334 Jun  9 13:12 ICEauthority
d---------  3 odoncaoa users 160 Jun  9 13:12 inaccessible
drwx------  2 odoncaoa users 100 Jun  9 13:12 keyring
srwxr-xr-x  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:12 pcmanfm-socket--0
srw-rw-rw-  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:12 pk-debconf-socket
-rw-r--r--  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:19 .portals-unavailable
drwx------  2 odoncaoa users  80 Jun  9 13:12 pulse
srw-rw-rw-  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:12 snapd-session-agent.socket
drwx------  4 odoncaoa users 100 Jun  9 13:12 speech-dispatcher
drwxr-xr-x  4 odoncaoa users 120 Jun  9 13:12 systemd
-rw-------  1 odoncaoa users   0 Jun  9 13:13 update-notifier.pid
/home/odoncaoa 2020-06-09 15:16
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[35]$ ll Desktop/chr* /usr/share/applications/chromium-browser.desktop
-rwxr--r-- 1 odoncaoa users    12478 Jun  9 15:14 Desktop/chromium-browser.desktop
-rwxr-xr-x 1 odoncaoa odoncaoa 12933 Mar  5 18:52 Desktop/chromium_chromium.desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 root     root     12478 Oct 22  2019 /usr/share/applications/chromium-browser.desktop
/home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-09 16:53
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[57]$ cd /snap
/snap 2020-06-09 16:53
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[58]$ l
./  ../  bin/  chromium/  core18/  gtk-common-themes/  README  snapd/
/snap 2020-06-09 16:53
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[59]$ ll
total 32
drwxr-xr-x  7 root root 4096 Mar  5 18:53 .
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Feb 28 22:01 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jun  8 09:57 bin
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Jun  8 09:57 chromium
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 30 12:33 core18
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 21 15:05 gtk-common-themes
-r--r--r--  1 root root  548 Mar  5 13:46 README
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Jun  3 14:11 snapd
/snap 2020-06-09 16:53
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[60]$ l bin
./  ../  chromium@  chromium.chromedriver@
/snap 2020-06-09 16:54
odoncaoa@tufFX705du[61]$ l s*d
./  ../  7264/  7777/  current@

Answer 1

Apparently Ubuntu BASH had been changed, way back when, to be able to handle (at least) the scenario that I previously described, for try/test /adapt other system useful working user files, via softling use. But, as it turns out, the adaptation turned out to be a shell functional divergence (as compared to every behavior of every other shell's functionality), and the adaptation managed to cause headaches throughout the [Lin,U]nix universe, until Ubuntu v19.10. Read about the change that was made, and a tad regarding historical perms issues here:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/270006/why-should-users-never-use-
        normal-sudo-to-start-graphical-applications/1047413#1047413
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1186999/how-does-sudo-handle-home-
        differently-since-19-10

And, as can be seen, with a few minor corrections the latest system, snap, chromium, and any/every other application introduced, and made available for execution upon/within an Ubuntu 19.10+ system, will do so, and be able to count on the permission behavior regarding the user execution enviromnent (via BASH), be the same as execution via any other shell present within the global user code base.

Below, note I went ahead, bit my tongue, and did create a 'odoncaoaB' user via /etc/profile & /etc/group. And, su'd to the user, and retried the troubled command (chromium-browser). Still no joy; but the error output was far different, and all had to do with permissions!? The fix following, indicates the change made, and life normality has, once again, been restored! Cheers, odoncaoa

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/home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-10 11:06 odoncaoa@tufFX705du[1]$ sudo -u odoncaoaB bash [sudo] password for odoncaoa: ===> BINDIR was not set!! <== BINDIR = /usr/local/BinDrD ===> 75. = $SHELLX='bash'

/home/odoncaoaB 2020-06-10 11:42 odoncaoaB@tufFX705du[1]$ chromium-browser mkdir: cannot create directory '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config': Permission denied mkdir: cannot create directory '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.local': Permission denied mkdir: cannot create directory '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common/.cache': Permission denied mkdir: cannot create directory '/run/user/1002': Permission denied Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Desktop Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Downloads Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Templates Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Public Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Documents Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Music Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Pictures Can't create dir /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/Videos realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory realpath: '': No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config’: Permission denied /snap/chromium/1182/bin/desktop-launch: line 410: /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf: No such file or directory ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.local/share': No such file or directory ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.themes': Permission denied /snap/chromium/1182/bin/desktop-launch: line 504: /home/odoncaoaB /snap/chromium/common/.cache/gdk-pixbuf-loaders.cache: No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common /.cache’: Permission denied mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.local’: Permission denied ln: target '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common/.cache/gio-modules' is not a directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.local’: Permission denied mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config’: Permission denied ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini': No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.config’: Permission denied ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.config/gtk-3.0/bookmarks': No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config’: Permission denied ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.config/gtk-2.0/gtkfilechooser.ini': No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.config’: Permission denied ln: failed to create symbolic link '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium /1182/.config/ibus': No such file or directory mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common /.cache’: Permission denied ln: target '/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common/.cache/immodules' is not a directory /snap/chromium/1182/bin/desktop-launch: line 580: /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common/.cache/immodules/immodules.cache: No such file or directory /snap/chromium/1182/bin/desktop-launch: line 591: /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/1182/.last_revision: Permission denied Unable to open directory /home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common/.cache/gio- modules: Error opening directory “/home/odoncaoaB/snap/chromium/common /.cache/gio-modules”: No such file or directory Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)

---

/home 2020-06-10 12:01 odoncaoa@tufFX705du[15]$ sudo rm odoncaoa; mv odoncaoaB odoncaoa; chgrp -R odoncaoa users

/home 2020-06-10 12:02 odoncaoa@tufFX705du[16]$ ll total 20 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jun 10 12:02 . drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Feb 28 22:01 .. drwxr-xr-x 39 odoncaoa users 4096 Jun 10 11:05 odoncaoa drwxr-xr-x 17 odoncaoa users 4096 Mar 5 14:46 odoncaoa_ drwxrwxr-x 2 u0_a239 u0_a239 4096 Apr 12 14:48 u0_a239