This may possibly rank as the most stupid question ever posed (anywhere), but I’m at the end of my tether. I’m using Asahi Linux Fedora 39 Gnome 45. What I want to do is very simple - save a webpage URL to a desktop/folder in Nautilus. This is child’s play on Windows and Mac. You just left-click to the left of the URL and drag the address to your chosen location. But for some reason, this is outlawed and forbidden on Asahi Fed39-Gnome45. I’ve tried this on Firefox, Librewolf and the same is true on any browser. I’ve searched the web and many others have asked this same fundamental question (relating to other distros). The answer is always the same - do as already outlined - left-click to the left of the address and drag it to a location of your choice and let go. Except, when i try to drop it on the desktop it simply springs back. When I do this in a folder location in Nautilus I get a text file with the URL. If someone can help me achieve this I’d be grateful. If anyone can explain why this is so bloody difficult, I’d be indebted for life.
Yes this is how you create a desktop entry for a link.
If you copy paste text, it is a .txt file thats it.
No idea why mac and windows do that differently. But for sure you could make creation of such files easier, like the KDE rightclick menu which has that option right away and has a dialog where you just enter that link.
@mblasko I tried that. I can’t speak for other distros, but the Epiphany browser is unusable on Asahi Linux (39 and Gnome 45). It looks nice, but it’s slower than dial-up in the late nineties.
Just thought to give a little necrobump before this thread is really dead…
This used to work - I can’t remember how long ago it was - probably over 10 years (perhaps over 20… no, couldn’t be, yes it could). The point of my reminiscing - I’m still coming across old .desktop entry files that are, as @dylanchapell and @boredsquirrel describe - desktop files that are just dead text files.
The way these used to work once-upon-a-time is just how @tommyrot would expect - drag-n-drop from Firefox to the left of the URL field, but alas, they stopped working and never have again…
To save a URL to your desktop or Nautilus folder in GNOME 45 on Asahi Linux Fedora 39, instead of dragging the URL directly, you can create a bookmark file manually. Open your browser, right-click the page and select “Save Page As” to save it as an HTML file or copy the URL. Then, on your desktop or in Nautilus, create a new file with a .desktop extension. Edit this file with a text editor and add the following content:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Website Name
Exec=xdg-open [URL]
Icon=text-html
Type=Application
Replace [URL] with the actual URL and Website Name with the desired name for the bookmark. Save the file, and you should see a clickable icon on your desktop or in Nautilus that opens the URL in your default web browser.
Some crossed wires here, I think. I’m not trying to save the page (and its content) for offline reading as an HTML, I just want a bookmark. Something that can be double-clicked later that will open that URL. That’s it. Preferably, I’d like to avoid opening an editor and creating it manually using markup or cuneiform.
So a bookmark, but outside the browser? This is a desktop entry.
Otherwise Ctrl+D for bookmark.
A tool could be made to create a desktop entry easily. But this is an overcomplication. It could be an addon using the native file portal so the browser doesnt need wide access
I’m experiencing some 