I have Ubuntu 20.04 LTS installed with default GNOME Shell.
Then I have created symlink for some application on the ~/Desktop folder with
ln -s /usr/bin/xclock ~/Desktop/xclock
(the xclock is just an example, it is ELF binary executable)
Now it looks like shown below:
Clicking on this file does nothing, the execution bit is already set. There is no "Mark as Trusted" in the drop-down menu.
How can I launch this symlink while avoiding creating special .desktop-file for its linked executable?
Best Answer
You probably can't until the Gnome Shell Desktop Icons is developed to allow for directly running executables (which, probably, they shouldn't, but that is another discussion and a matter of opinion ;)). You will need to stick to a .desktop file for now.