Setting default applications w/out gnome-control-center

Peter N Spotts pspotts at alum.mit.edu
Fri Aug 1 17:50:19 UTC 2008


On Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:00:02 -0500
"Mumia W." <paduille.4062.mumia.w+nospam at earthlink.net> wrote:

> On 08/01/2008 10:47 AM, Peter N Spotts wrote:
> > Folks,
> > 
> > Is it possible to set default apps in Xubuntu 8.04 without
> > resorting to gnome-control-center? I've used Xfce's version to set
> > Claws Mail as my default email app. But it fails to come up when I
> > try to use web email addresses in Firefox. I've used about:config
> > in FF to try to remedy the problem. But it hasn't worked; something
> > appears to be overriding the about:config setup for email. Is there
> > a "via terminal" approach for designating default apps? Or do I
> > need to install Gnome's control center to get this right?
> > 
> > With best regards,
> > 
> > Pete
> > 
> 
> Launch the gconf-editor. I have almost no experience with Xfce, so I 
> can't be sure this works, but you can change gnome-control-center 
> settings by editing the values in the gconf database, and the 
> gconf-editor helps you do that.
> 
> However, the gconf-editor is a *lot* less pretty than 
> gnome-control-center. Gconf is like the Windows registry; there are
> many keys, and the keys have values, and you have to know the right
> key and value to modify to get your desired results.
> 
> For example, the default browser can probably be changed by modifying 
> the key /desktop/gnome/applications/browser/exec; the value is
> "firefox" on my system.
> 
> 
> 

Thanks! Found the setting, changed it, and it works like a champ!

Best,

Pete

-- 
Peter N. Spotts | Science reporter
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