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Since 12.04, when additional software is installed, Ubuntu software center puts an icon in the launcher, representing a .desktop file in /usr/share/app-install/desktop/. This desktop file is not "overruled" by a (possible) local .desktop file in ~.local/share/applications.

My question is: Why is the initial icon (.desktop file) put there, and is not the default .desktop file used that is located in /usr/share/applications?

αғsнιη
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Jacob Vlijm
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  • BTW; I do not see a file corresponding to my app in either of the locations that you mention. – Danny Schoemann Jun 21 '12 at 05:47
  • I am not sure I know what you mean; is "my app" an application installed by the Ubuntu Software Center? – Jacob Vlijm Jun 21 '12 at 06:09
  • Yes - "my app" is an application we are developing and packaged with Debian that is then installed using the Ubuntu Software Center – Danny Schoemann Jun 25 '12 at 07:06
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    @ Danny That is interesting, because then I wonder where and why the decission is taken. There might be a good reason for it, but I do not know it. It was a problem to me, in developping a quicklist editor, that edited the "usual" local desktop file. That would normally overrule the default desktop file, but not the one I described in my post. In the meantime I found a workaround to edit the gsettings and remove the initial icon (if it exists) and replace it by the edited one in the same index. – Jacob Vlijm Jun 25 '12 at 07:58
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    @JacobVlijm What about http://askubuntu.com/a/470336/256099 ? – Pandya Sep 06 '14 at 17:40
  • @Pandya Now that is excellent information. The procedure to link the initial icon in the launcher to the desktop file in /usr/share/app-install/desktop/ seems to be left behind us, which is good news for me; it made things more complicated for a quicklist editor. – Jacob Vlijm Sep 06 '14 at 17:55
  • @JacobVlijm , This is old, did you get you needed answer from the post pointed by Pandya? Or still looking for reason? – user.dz Jan 18 '16 at 21:17
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    @Sneetsher thanks for noticing! The linked answer is satisfying enough to mark this question as a dupe :) – Jacob Vlijm Jan 18 '16 at 21:29

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Because that is how Ubuntu was designed. When you install an app from Ubuntu Software Center, Ubuntu puts an icon for only the user who installed the app.

  • ...but that is not a reason to use a .desktop file in a different location, as the (local) contents of the launcher is determined in the gsettings. – Jacob Vlijm Jun 21 '12 at 13:57