Can't Create Shortcuts / Links in Desktop
 

Hi.
I have installed Debian with LXDE.
I don't know why but right click on the desktop or even using
PCManFM, the option to create links is greyed out. So, I can't create
the shortcuts that I want.
How can I fix it? Why is this happening? The desktop is inside the home
folder! I should have permissions to my own desktop!
Thank you

which debian version?
i can't see this here on my debian lxde vm (granted, i haven't updated it for a few months).
no "create link" option at all when right clicking anything on the desktop.

By coincidence, I've been trying to find the best distro that will run on a 512MB laptop.
Debian-LXDE is it.

I have created a freshly minted VM on my Desktop and I have no option to create links (greyed out or not).

Assuming you want a symbolic link:-

Thank you, but I want to enable it in the GUI as it was supposed to be working.

just did an update, upgrade, dist-upgrade.
pcmanfm is still version 1.2.3 and there's still no create link option anywhere.
are you sure you are using debian stable with lxde?
which version is your pcmanfm?

PCManFM 1.2.3 Lightweight file manager using LibFM ver. 1.2.3

Attachment 23064
As you can see in the image above, red arrow, there is a greyed option called "creat link".

Similarly, when I right click my Desktop area I was supposed to see options like:
- Create Lancher
- Create URL link
etc.
But, the only thing that I get is a "create new folder"!

I'll probably give up on using LXDE this way. It lacks too many basic and important things even for a light DE.

In this file manager screen - have you clicked on a file or directory and then looked at the menu? I'm going to venture to guess that most (if not all) of the grayed-out options will no longer be.

I tried installing nemo as the file manager - this dragged in 50+ small packages.
It also dragged in Nautilus.
This has only been tested in my VM.

Either of nemo or nautilus will allow you to make symbolic links in a GUI.
From the LXDE menu:-
Debian -> applications -> File Manager -> your choice

You might want to want to insert a short cut.:)

Do not right-click on Desktop. Go to the file/foder you wanted to create a shortcut to Desktop, right click on file/folder and see if there is a "Send to.." or "Create shortcut..." option given.

There is another way of making a link on desktop, use "ln -s"
e.g
Open a terminal at /home/Desktop folder then enter the command:
opening Desktop folder will offer the link you just created.

If you want similar light weight DE try Xfce4. There is a rightclick shortcut maker for anywhere.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

m.m.

You are right.

Guys, I think along the way, I let the question I wanted to know mix with other matters.
I apologize and I'll try to fix it now.
I want to be able to right click my desktop and get an option to create a link, pure and simple as that.
I know how to create symbolic links with in a terminal, but that's not what I want.
I know I can click on something inside PCManFM and create a link to it. That's not what I want.

Why am I fixated in creating a link in the desktop with the mouse right click?
- It's easy
- It's fast
- Other DE offer me this option, so Why can't I get it inside LXDE too?!
- MAIN REASON: I don't just want to create a link. This "create a launcher" option that I get in other DE when I right click
the desktop, it offers me the possibility of creating or editing the path to, for example, instead of just point to a file,
I can transform it into a command. My real example here is: I want to edit the link (inside the launcher window that will pop up when I right click the desktop and choose "create a launcher") in order to transform it into a command like "wine file.exe".
It's an easy way for me to create launcher icons for windows apps that run in a stand alone mode and do not go into Wine GUI menu, for example.

This is just one example. I usually create this launcher icons to do other things too.

This option that was available to me in any distro and DE I have used so far, it's not presented in the current Debian distro with LXDE Desktop Environment. I can get it if I change the desktop environment, but it's a function so basic, so present everywhere, that I can't understand why it isn't here in LXDE.

I apologize again for any misunderstanding that I created.

true.
it does exactly that.

good luck.

To do what you want, you can replace the desktop window to something other than PCManFM. I use xfdesktop because that's what the XFCE4 desktop environment uses. I can right click on the desktop and it gives me a GUI option to create a launcher (not just a symbolic link), including the various customizable options you want.

I don't know how nicely xfdesktop will play with the other LXDE components. At the very least, I think you'll want to configure its XFCE4 settings to use PCManFM rather than Thunar as preferred file manager. OTOH, if you don't really care for PCManFM, you could switch to Thunar instead.

Of course, at some point you may be using so many components from XFCE4 that you might as well just switch entirely to an XFCE4 desktop...

I'll try that, but it surprises me that something that appeared to be a simple file manager application (PCManFM) to be related to how the desktop environment behaves. It's really strange. Things like the mouse right on the desktop was supposed to be managed only by the DE, i.e., LXDE package and its configurations. Of course, an app can add options to it, but it's not expected for it to be the one responsible for the desktop behavior. I find it strange.

At the end, the best solution might be to just change the DE and use a different one.

One quick question if you kindly allow me to do so. In one of my machines, before I chose to use LXDE, I installed ALL availble DE of Debian. I was changing between them today and Gnome is looking too much like the new Ubuntu, with the side bar, and menu covering the entire window, something like the new Microsoft way. I don't like that environment but I found in the switching list Gnome Classic, that is more appealing to me. If I choose, during Debian installation, to install only Gnome, will I get both of these Gnome DE (the new and the classic as it's called here)? Will it affect significantly the performance in comparison to the LXDE?

Thank you.

why do you disegard the other replies then?
they answer your question 100%.




don't do that. it is bound to cause borkage.

PCManFM has the ability to act as the desktop window, as well as a normal decorated window. Whether you realize it or not, you have been using some program running as the desktop window every time you have messed around with icons on the desktop. Sometimes, this program is one and the same as the file manager application for decorated windows (PCManFM, Nautilus, etc). Sometimes, it is not the same program (thunar vs xfdesktop). You can actually mix and match them to a great extent.

If you install the GNOME desktop suite in Debian, the GNOME Classic mode will also be installed. It's more heavyweight than LXDE. Personally, I like XFCE4 better as a replacement for old classic GNOME2 (which is what I was using before they switched to GNOME3).