Maybe I am an idiot, but I am definitely a newbie....I installed Mozilla Thunderbird onto my Fedora system, and when I installed it, I installed in into a directory I created in my home folder, figuring (like windows) that I'd be able to create a shortcup to the desktop so I could easily launch it.

Well, I tried doing that, and it doesn't work. I can only go into the directory, and click on the executable file itself to start the program, but if I create a link to the desktop, it doesn't work. Can anyone help me out here? The book I bought is absolutely no help at all.... (Fedora for Dummies in case your wondering).

Try to make a link using the command ln. Either the soft or hard links should work.
Type bash$ ln source/dir dest/dir [in this case, the dest/dir is the desktop which is a directory in your home directory] If you prefer soft links, or if the source and dest dirs are in different filesystems, add a -s option to the above command.
Have a good day.

I had a similar problem, but when trying to use a link for Eclipse Java IDE.

Actually, I created a symbolic link using ln, and when I tried to use this link, I got a message saying the startup.jar file should be in the same directory of the X file I was accessing through the shortcut. But it was there, not in the shortcut's directory, o'course, but in the linked file's directory. When I accessed the file directly, it worked fine. Does anyone know why it happened?

Tks in advance!

An easier solution to the problem would be to Right-Click on the desktop and select Create Launcher. Name the item, click under browse and navigate to the file you want to open, click OK and you're done. Another thing you can do is add an Icon to it, if you'd like.

RemusX2, tks for your help!

Yes, I've done what you suggested but I was wondering what was going wrong, so I also decided to creating a symlink to the startup.jar file as well, in the same directory I created the symlink to Eclipse. It run fine!

I thought it really strange, because as far as I know when I create a link to a file, the linked file should be "called" and then executed. If the linked file needed another file to run, which is in the same directory, I cannot understand what's going wrong. Why should I create a link to the needed file also?

See ya!

I've installed FireFox in FC2. But how i create a launcher in my "start menu list > Internet" ?

There is a program called menu editor which can accessed from the menu(I think from preferences sub menu, though I won't bet on it)
Try it.
Before leaving, may I tell you that your question was very unspecific? You didn't even mention which Window Manager you use.
Any way, Good Luck!

I think you are looking for the "create launcher" function. Click on the desktop, then right mouse button. Create launcher is what you are looking for... you can add a "shortcut" to firefox or whatever to your desktop.