restoring .desktop shortcut functionality broken by 18 > 20 upgrade
Solution 1:
The support for link-type desktop files was removed in May 2018 from Nautilus version 3.27.4 and later. The Nautilus developers have been pretty clear this removal is permanent (read this bug report for details) so at this point your options are
-
maintain your own fork of Nautilus,
-
use a version of Nautilus prior to 3.27.4, or
-
use a different file manager.
I would recommend option #3, since you can just install the file manager and keep using the same desktop as before.
The following graphical file managers all support link-type desktop files, can be installed in Ubuntu 20.04, and can be used with the GNOME 3 desktop:
- Caja (Launchpad)
- Dolphin (Launchpad)
- Nemo (Launchpad)
- PCManFM (Launchpad)
- PCManFM-Qt (Launchpad)
- Thunar (Launchpad)
Note that Caja and Nemo are both Nautilus forks. All but Thunar follow the link to the new folder; Thunar opens a new window.
I've tested these with a stripped-down version of the desktop file from the example-content package.
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Link
Name=Examples
URL=file:///usr/share/example-content/
Icon=folder