Written by JYC the 15 Mar 08 at 23:38.

When choosing "Other.." instead of default associated application, Firefox should show available apps instead of showing the root filesystem.

When choosing "Other.." instead of default associated application, Firefox should show available apps instead of showing the root filesystem.

Written by Biornus the 1 Feb 09 at 10:10.

It the same as the OSX way, you keep every program in one folder, or atleast a shortcut, it would then be easy to find apps with "Other" in Firefox.

Just as a sidenote, all the files for each application would probably have to be spread around the file system, but either when you delete the shortcut or if you remove it through Synaptic or Add/Remove, Ubuntu remembers to delete all the files who is not gonna be needed anymore.

It the same as the OSX way, you keep every program in one folder, or atleast a shortcut, it would then be easy to find apps with "Other" in Firefox. Just as a sidenote, all the files for each application would probably have to be spread around the file system, but either when you delete the shortcut or if you remove it through Synaptic or Add/Remove, Ubuntu remembers to delete all the files who is not gonna be needed anymore.

Written by twocool the 8 Feb 09 at 15:47.

If there was a a virtual folder (or even a virtual FUSE filesystem) with all applications it would not only solve the problem in firefox but in every application with the same problem. As an added bonus it could improve the overall usability of Ubuntu.

If there was a a virtual folder (or even a virtual FUSE filesystem) with all applications it would not only solve the problem in firefox but in every application with the same problem. As an added bonus it could improve the overall usability of Ubuntu.

Written by qense the 20 Jan 09 at 17:42.

GNOME already has got a program that allows you to select default applications.
Use that program and extend it to centralize the settings and point to it in Firefox at the right places.

GNOME already has got a program that allows you to select default applications. Use that program and extend it to centralize the settings and point to it in Firefox at the right places.

Written by sebek the 17 Jun 09 at 13:15.

Although I am in favor of solution #4, I don't know how difficult it is to implement.

The workaround I propose is a quick and easy one : the default path to the applications for every file-type should be gnome-open. You can change if you don't want gnome-open to open this kind of application.


gnome-open is a command line tool that takes a file as an argument. This file will be opened with the application defined in GNOME and nautilus.

Could this solution promoted as
One Hundred Paper Cuts ?

Although I am in favor of solution #4, I don't know how difficult it is to implement. The workaround I propose is a quick and easy one : the default path to the applications for every file-type should be gnome-open. You can change if you don't want gnome-open to open this kind of application. gnome-open is a command line tool that takes a file as an argument. This file will be opened with the application defined in GNOME and nautilus. Could this solution promoted as One Hundred Paper Cuts ? <https://edge.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts>

Written by maitchy the 18 Jul 09 at 08:32.

This is for a web browser, right? And Open Source stuff can be really innovative, right? Why not:

1. have a website that maintains a list of what works for each file type, that can be accessed automatically to list the best applications or plug-ins, in order (and the browser can work out what is installed, or report simple comment like "this is a pretty rare file type, and the only applications to handle it are unreliable, do you really want to go ahead??"). This could end up storing up-to-date information on user feedback, allow all manner of hardware and software interactions to be logged, and perhaps organisations could supply their own to ensure computers don't end up being unreliable when individuals try installing all sorts of weird stuff out of desperation.

2. Also have an automatically-generated applications list available, a click away, as in the first suggestion, but be aware the list could be long and not make much sense to 98% of users... add info from apt-cache perhaps to help, and allow sorting/selecting.

3. Also have gnome-open as an option, solution #5. Implement that first.

4. If the selected application is silly, e.g. "less" for a binary file, say so; if the application fails have the option of matching the error response against known problems and try to generate a simple explanation and/or web link for the user; e.g. I have the Helix play plugin installed in Firefox 3.5 and it not only doesn't work, it isn't obvious why it won't try to play mp3s... it should say "I see you have installed Helix Player, and you tried to play an MP3, but you still need to configure helix for this by..."

This is for a web browser, right? And Open Source stuff can be really innovative, right? Why not: 1. have a website that maintains a list of what works for each file type, that can be accessed automatically to list the best applications or plug-ins, in order (and the browser can work out what is installed, or report simple comment like "this is a pretty rare file type, and the only applications to handle it are unreliable, do you really want to go ahead??"). This could end up storing up-to-date information on user feedback, allow all manner of hardware and software interactions to be logged, and perhaps organisations could supply their own to ensure computers don't end up being unreliable when individuals try installing all sorts of weird stuff out of desperation. 2. Also have an automatically-generated applications list available, a click away, as in the first suggestion, but be aware the list could be long and not make much sense to 98% of users... add info from apt-cache perhaps to help, and allow sorting/selecting. 3. Also have gnome-open as an option, solution #5. Implement that first. 4. If the selected application is silly, e.g. "less" for a binary file, say so; if the application fails have the option of matching the error response against known problems and try to generate a simple explanation and/or web link for the user; e.g. I have the Helix play plugin installed in Firefox 3.5 and it not only doesn't work, it isn't obvious why it won't try to play mp3s... it should say "I see you have installed Helix Player, and you tried to play an MP3, but you still need to configure helix for this by..."

Written by cupantae the 17 May 09 at 15:26.

When the user picks "Open with..." a dialogue appears that looks quite like the menu editor. From this, s/he can simply choose Amarok or VLC or whatever is desired from the Sound & Video submenu. There are 3 buttons below that say "OK", "Cancel" and "Browse...", the last of which brings up the file manager window to find the executable manually.

When the user picks "Open with..." a dialogue appears that looks quite like the menu editor. From this, s/he can simply choose Amarok or VLC or whatever is desired from the Sound & Video submenu. There are 3 buttons below that say "OK", "Cancel" and "Browse...", the last of which brings up the file manager window to find the executable manually.