On Wed, 2024-11-20 at 13:22 -0500, Frank Bures wrote:
The problem only occurs when the desktop icon is created as a link.
Yes, you had the reason why a link is doing that in a prior message in this thread.
How to reproduce - plasma desktop:
- Click on Fedora symbol on the task bar.
- Enter the search string into the search field, i.e. Thunderbird
- Drug the result (Thundebird) to the desktop.
- A drop list appears
- Choose "Link here"
- Properties of the icon created in such a way cannot be changed
However, if one chooses "Copy here" in 5 above, the properties of the created icon can be changed.
And that explanation covered why you would copy a desktop file, rather than link to it.
Is that the intentional behaviour?
I'd say so. You've been given two choices about what to do with the thing you want to create a short-cut to (copy or link). If you want to modify it in some way, copy it and modify it. If you just want to use it as-is, you can simply link to it. The short-cut creation menu choices has already provided you with what you need.
I think the issue may be that you're used to some old behaviour where you can "create a short-cut" to something, and that shortcut always was simply a copy of the desktop file.
Once more:
A *copy* creates a desktop file in your space that you own, and you can modify. The original desktop launcher file (elsewhere on the system) will not be changed, and will be ignored.
A *link* points to a file somewhere else on the system, and if that somewhere else isn't owned by you (it won't be, in this case), you can't modify it.