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How to launch default web browser from the terminal?
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I was wondering what's the terminal command to open the default web browser.
command-line
add a comment |
I was wondering what's the terminal command to open the default web browser.
command-line
add a comment |
I was wondering what's the terminal command to open the default web browser.
command-line
I was wondering what's the terminal command to open the default web browser.
command-line
command-line
edited Apr 25 '14 at 12:41
Braiam
52.7k20138225
52.7k20138225
asked Oct 19 '10 at 10:39
LucaLuca
1,30211013
1,30211013
add a comment |
add a comment |
7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
sensible-browser
is the command you're looking for.
What about the differences betweensensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in/etc/alternatives
and modified byupdate-alternatives
?
– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
For mesensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome.xdg-open
works as expected.
– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre.xdg-open
does.
– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
add a comment |
Searching on Google I found the answer.
xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
URL is provided the URL will be opened
in the user's preferred web browser.
If a file is provided the file will be
opened in the preferred application
for files of that type. xdg-open
supports file, ftp, http and https
URLs.
xdg-open is part of xdg-utils package and it's already installed on Ubuntu 10.10.
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
add a comment |
You can also use:
x-www-browser http://some-url.org
And it will open the URL in the default browser.
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
add a comment |
With default Ubuntu setup only gnome-open command comes to mind.
gnome-open http://askubuntu.com
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
The advantage is that you can usegnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands likesensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will callgnome-open
, orkde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.
– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
add a comment |
I played around this a little.
There is a problem with gnome-open
— it won't invoke the default web browser unless you specify a url.
That's a problem if you want to set up an icon or a shortcut that will always launch the browser that is set as default.
Other times you might need to set it as a parameter for some programs that require a link to a web browser and don't work well with gnome-open
(e.g.: acroread
).
You might solve this by using either x-www-browser
or gnome-www-browser
system links that you can set up through update-alternatives
, but those are system wide settings, not user specific (and they are not synchronized with the values set through gnome-default-applications-properties
.
All this can be solved by opening the sensible-browser
executable (which is actually a script):
sudo gedit $(which sensible-browser)
and adding this at the beginning:
#!/bin/bash
BROWSER=$(gconftool -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command)
export BROWSER="$BROWSER//""%s""/"
That will make sensible-browser
always launch the user-specified default web browser.
(I found out that gnome-default-applications-properties
changes some gconf keys according to the browser that is currently set. The default browser value can be obtained from any of these keys so I went for /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command
and used it to fill the $BROWSER
variable (the value is stripped of the "%s"
part). )
1
I wouldn't recommend editing/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.
– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
add a comment |
Just that you may find it useful. A fallback approach, and one liner.
URL="www.url.com/some"; xdg-open $URL || sensible-browser $URL || x-www-browser $URL || gnome-open $URL
Good reading for the no familiar with the logical operators
https://www.howtogeek.com/269509/how-to-run-two-or-more-terminal-commands-at-once-in-linux/.
New contributor
add a comment |
Follow below commands :
$ type -a Firefox
: This gives path to firefox application$ /usr/bin/firefox www.facebook.com
: This opens a tab with www.facebook.com
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just runfirefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.
– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
add a comment |
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7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
sensible-browser
is the command you're looking for.
What about the differences betweensensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in/etc/alternatives
and modified byupdate-alternatives
?
– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
For mesensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome.xdg-open
works as expected.
– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre.xdg-open
does.
– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
add a comment |
sensible-browser
is the command you're looking for.
What about the differences betweensensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in/etc/alternatives
and modified byupdate-alternatives
?
– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
For mesensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome.xdg-open
works as expected.
– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre.xdg-open
does.
– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
add a comment |
sensible-browser
is the command you're looking for.
sensible-browser
is the command you're looking for.
answered Oct 19 '10 at 10:50
EvanEvan
4,2381717
4,2381717
What about the differences betweensensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in/etc/alternatives
and modified byupdate-alternatives
?
– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
For mesensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome.xdg-open
works as expected.
– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre.xdg-open
does.
– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
add a comment |
What about the differences betweensensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in/etc/alternatives
and modified byupdate-alternatives
?
– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
For mesensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome.xdg-open
works as expected.
– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre.xdg-open
does.
– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
What about the differences between
sensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in /etc/alternatives
and modified by update-alternatives
?– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
What about the differences between
sensible-utils
package and the system of alternatives found in /etc/alternatives
and modified by update-alternatives
?– enzotib
Oct 19 '10 at 12:59
7
7
For me
sensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome. xdg-open
works as expected.– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
For me
sensible-browser
opens Opera instead pf default Chrome. xdg-open
works as expected.– incrop
Jun 17 '14 at 15:12
2
2
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
what @Incrop said is still true for Ubuntu 16.04, this opens Firefox instead of my default browser Chromium.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:58
2
2
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre. xdg-open
does.– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
sensible-browser
doesn't follow user preference configured in unity-control-centre. xdg-open
does.– Tankman六四
Feb 5 '18 at 0:58
add a comment |
Searching on Google I found the answer.
xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
URL is provided the URL will be opened
in the user's preferred web browser.
If a file is provided the file will be
opened in the preferred application
for files of that type. xdg-open
supports file, ftp, http and https
URLs.
xdg-open is part of xdg-utils package and it's already installed on Ubuntu 10.10.
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
add a comment |
Searching on Google I found the answer.
xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
URL is provided the URL will be opened
in the user's preferred web browser.
If a file is provided the file will be
opened in the preferred application
for files of that type. xdg-open
supports file, ftp, http and https
URLs.
xdg-open is part of xdg-utils package and it's already installed on Ubuntu 10.10.
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
add a comment |
Searching on Google I found the answer.
xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
URL is provided the URL will be opened
in the user's preferred web browser.
If a file is provided the file will be
opened in the preferred application
for files of that type. xdg-open
supports file, ftp, http and https
URLs.
xdg-open is part of xdg-utils package and it's already installed on Ubuntu 10.10.
Searching on Google I found the answer.
xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
URL is provided the URL will be opened
in the user's preferred web browser.
If a file is provided the file will be
opened in the preferred application
for files of that type. xdg-open
supports file, ftp, http and https
URLs.
xdg-open is part of xdg-utils package and it's already installed on Ubuntu 10.10.
answered Oct 19 '10 at 10:50
LucaLuca
1,30211013
1,30211013
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
add a comment |
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
what does xdg stand for? Its hard to remember without knowing that.
– Thupten
Jul 13 '14 at 14:42
1
1
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
XDG stands for X Desktop Group aka freedesktop.org
– Luca
Jul 13 '14 at 19:05
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
Still still works on a default Ubuntu 16.04 installation.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 11:20
1
1
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
if the user once configured to open html files with a text editor by default, this will not work. OP asks for a way to open the web browser, not the default application for html files (even though by default it's the same)
– Blauhirn
Jun 29 '17 at 16:48
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
This will work on any gnu/linux distro that has x-server window manager (that is just about all of them - eg debian, *buntu, fedora, manjaro, Arch etc)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:58
add a comment |
You can also use:
x-www-browser http://some-url.org
And it will open the URL in the default browser.
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
add a comment |
You can also use:
x-www-browser http://some-url.org
And it will open the URL in the default browser.
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
add a comment |
You can also use:
x-www-browser http://some-url.org
And it will open the URL in the default browser.
You can also use:
x-www-browser http://some-url.org
And it will open the URL in the default browser.
answered Aug 22 '11 at 9:50
BenjaminBenjamin
1,78773045
1,78773045
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
add a comment |
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
2
2
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
for me, in Ubuntu 16.04, this will open Firefox even though Chromium is set as the default browser in the "Default Applications" setting.
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:56
add a comment |
With default Ubuntu setup only gnome-open command comes to mind.
gnome-open http://askubuntu.com
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
The advantage is that you can usegnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands likesensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will callgnome-open
, orkde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.
– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
add a comment |
With default Ubuntu setup only gnome-open command comes to mind.
gnome-open http://askubuntu.com
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
The advantage is that you can usegnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands likesensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will callgnome-open
, orkde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.
– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
add a comment |
With default Ubuntu setup only gnome-open command comes to mind.
gnome-open http://askubuntu.com
With default Ubuntu setup only gnome-open command comes to mind.
gnome-open http://askubuntu.com
answered Oct 19 '10 at 10:51
kounryusuikounryusui
88121015
88121015
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
The advantage is that you can usegnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands likesensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will callgnome-open
, orkde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.
– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
add a comment |
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
The advantage is that you can usegnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands likesensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will callgnome-open
, orkde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.
– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
4
4
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
With default Ubuntu setup, sensible-browser and xdg-open commands work as well.
– marenostrum
Oct 19 '10 at 12:38
1
1
The advantage is that you can use
gnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands like sensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
The advantage is that you can use
gnome-open
for almost all file-types, URIs and directories. It's one command to learn, instead of trying to remember about obscure commands like sensible-browser
– Stefan Lasiewski
Oct 21 '10 at 18:19
6
6
@Stefan Lasiewski:
xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will call gnome-open
, or kde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
@Stefan Lasiewski:
xdg-open
should do the same thing - actually, it will call gnome-open
, or kde-open
, or whatever, depending on your desktop environment. Thus it's more portable.– Piskvor
Aug 22 '11 at 14:37
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
in Ubuntu 16.04, gnome-open is not installed by default
– Andreas Hacker
Mar 16 '17 at 10:55
1
1
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
gnome-open is dependent on gnome desktop, better off using xdg as its more common
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 19:59
add a comment |
I played around this a little.
There is a problem with gnome-open
— it won't invoke the default web browser unless you specify a url.
That's a problem if you want to set up an icon or a shortcut that will always launch the browser that is set as default.
Other times you might need to set it as a parameter for some programs that require a link to a web browser and don't work well with gnome-open
(e.g.: acroread
).
You might solve this by using either x-www-browser
or gnome-www-browser
system links that you can set up through update-alternatives
, but those are system wide settings, not user specific (and they are not synchronized with the values set through gnome-default-applications-properties
.
All this can be solved by opening the sensible-browser
executable (which is actually a script):
sudo gedit $(which sensible-browser)
and adding this at the beginning:
#!/bin/bash
BROWSER=$(gconftool -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command)
export BROWSER="$BROWSER//""%s""/"
That will make sensible-browser
always launch the user-specified default web browser.
(I found out that gnome-default-applications-properties
changes some gconf keys according to the browser that is currently set. The default browser value can be obtained from any of these keys so I went for /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command
and used it to fill the $BROWSER
variable (the value is stripped of the "%s"
part). )
1
I wouldn't recommend editing/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.
– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
add a comment |
I played around this a little.
There is a problem with gnome-open
— it won't invoke the default web browser unless you specify a url.
That's a problem if you want to set up an icon or a shortcut that will always launch the browser that is set as default.
Other times you might need to set it as a parameter for some programs that require a link to a web browser and don't work well with gnome-open
(e.g.: acroread
).
You might solve this by using either x-www-browser
or gnome-www-browser
system links that you can set up through update-alternatives
, but those are system wide settings, not user specific (and they are not synchronized with the values set through gnome-default-applications-properties
.
All this can be solved by opening the sensible-browser
executable (which is actually a script):
sudo gedit $(which sensible-browser)
and adding this at the beginning:
#!/bin/bash
BROWSER=$(gconftool -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command)
export BROWSER="$BROWSER//""%s""/"
That will make sensible-browser
always launch the user-specified default web browser.
(I found out that gnome-default-applications-properties
changes some gconf keys according to the browser that is currently set. The default browser value can be obtained from any of these keys so I went for /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command
and used it to fill the $BROWSER
variable (the value is stripped of the "%s"
part). )
1
I wouldn't recommend editing/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.
– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
add a comment |
I played around this a little.
There is a problem with gnome-open
— it won't invoke the default web browser unless you specify a url.
That's a problem if you want to set up an icon or a shortcut that will always launch the browser that is set as default.
Other times you might need to set it as a parameter for some programs that require a link to a web browser and don't work well with gnome-open
(e.g.: acroread
).
You might solve this by using either x-www-browser
or gnome-www-browser
system links that you can set up through update-alternatives
, but those are system wide settings, not user specific (and they are not synchronized with the values set through gnome-default-applications-properties
.
All this can be solved by opening the sensible-browser
executable (which is actually a script):
sudo gedit $(which sensible-browser)
and adding this at the beginning:
#!/bin/bash
BROWSER=$(gconftool -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command)
export BROWSER="$BROWSER//""%s""/"
That will make sensible-browser
always launch the user-specified default web browser.
(I found out that gnome-default-applications-properties
changes some gconf keys according to the browser that is currently set. The default browser value can be obtained from any of these keys so I went for /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command
and used it to fill the $BROWSER
variable (the value is stripped of the "%s"
part). )
I played around this a little.
There is a problem with gnome-open
— it won't invoke the default web browser unless you specify a url.
That's a problem if you want to set up an icon or a shortcut that will always launch the browser that is set as default.
Other times you might need to set it as a parameter for some programs that require a link to a web browser and don't work well with gnome-open
(e.g.: acroread
).
You might solve this by using either x-www-browser
or gnome-www-browser
system links that you can set up through update-alternatives
, but those are system wide settings, not user specific (and they are not synchronized with the values set through gnome-default-applications-properties
.
All this can be solved by opening the sensible-browser
executable (which is actually a script):
sudo gedit $(which sensible-browser)
and adding this at the beginning:
#!/bin/bash
BROWSER=$(gconftool -g /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command)
export BROWSER="$BROWSER//""%s""/"
That will make sensible-browser
always launch the user-specified default web browser.
(I found out that gnome-default-applications-properties
changes some gconf keys according to the browser that is currently set. The default browser value can be obtained from any of these keys so I went for /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command
and used it to fill the $BROWSER
variable (the value is stripped of the "%s"
part). )
edited Feb 21 '14 at 11:52
Gilles
45.6k13102142
45.6k13102142
answered Feb 25 '11 at 13:15
user11456
1
I wouldn't recommend editing/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.
– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
add a comment |
1
I wouldn't recommend editing/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.
– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
1
1
I wouldn't recommend editing
/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
I wouldn't recommend editing
/usr/bin/sensible-browser
as this answer recommends. This change will be overwritten on a system upgrade.– Gilles
Feb 21 '14 at 11:53
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
rather than try to install a modified script on a users system, a more realistic solution is to use xdg-open as per Luca's answer. If you specify a html file or a URL it WILL open the browser - if you supply something else it will open an appropriate application for that type of resource. I doubt there is any good reason to open some file with a browser when it will be better handled by some other application, either by default or in accordance with the users explicit choice. If you must, you can force the browser to open it with x-www-browser (see Benjamin's answer)
– flurbius
Dec 27 '17 at 20:34
add a comment |
Just that you may find it useful. A fallback approach, and one liner.
URL="www.url.com/some"; xdg-open $URL || sensible-browser $URL || x-www-browser $URL || gnome-open $URL
Good reading for the no familiar with the logical operators
https://www.howtogeek.com/269509/how-to-run-two-or-more-terminal-commands-at-once-in-linux/.
New contributor
add a comment |
Just that you may find it useful. A fallback approach, and one liner.
URL="www.url.com/some"; xdg-open $URL || sensible-browser $URL || x-www-browser $URL || gnome-open $URL
Good reading for the no familiar with the logical operators
https://www.howtogeek.com/269509/how-to-run-two-or-more-terminal-commands-at-once-in-linux/.
New contributor
add a comment |
Just that you may find it useful. A fallback approach, and one liner.
URL="www.url.com/some"; xdg-open $URL || sensible-browser $URL || x-www-browser $URL || gnome-open $URL
Good reading for the no familiar with the logical operators
https://www.howtogeek.com/269509/how-to-run-two-or-more-terminal-commands-at-once-in-linux/.
New contributor
Just that you may find it useful. A fallback approach, and one liner.
URL="www.url.com/some"; xdg-open $URL || sensible-browser $URL || x-www-browser $URL || gnome-open $URL
Good reading for the no familiar with the logical operators
https://www.howtogeek.com/269509/how-to-run-two-or-more-terminal-commands-at-once-in-linux/.
New contributor
edited 3 mins ago
New contributor
answered 9 mins ago
Mohamed AllalMohamed Allal
1012
1012
New contributor
New contributor
add a comment |
add a comment |
Follow below commands :
$ type -a Firefox
: This gives path to firefox application$ /usr/bin/firefox www.facebook.com
: This opens a tab with www.facebook.com
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just runfirefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.
– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
add a comment |
Follow below commands :
$ type -a Firefox
: This gives path to firefox application$ /usr/bin/firefox www.facebook.com
: This opens a tab with www.facebook.com
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just runfirefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.
– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
add a comment |
Follow below commands :
$ type -a Firefox
: This gives path to firefox application$ /usr/bin/firefox www.facebook.com
: This opens a tab with www.facebook.com
Follow below commands :
$ type -a Firefox
: This gives path to firefox application$ /usr/bin/firefox www.facebook.com
: This opens a tab with www.facebook.com
edited Jan 18 at 6:48
Nisse Engström
283256
283256
answered Jan 18 at 4:43
Simpy ParveenSimpy Parveen
11
11
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just runfirefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.
– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
add a comment |
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just runfirefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.
– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
3
3
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
Firefox is not always the default web browser
– storm
Jan 18 at 8:05
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
ofcourse, we can use another browser, as per the choice
– Simpy Parveen
Jan 18 at 18:26
Why wouldn't you just run
firefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
Why wouldn't you just run
firefox
directly instead of getting the path and then running the path? At any rate, the answer misses the point: the question is about running the default browser, not Firefox.– Olorin
Jan 21 at 1:25
add a comment |
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