Bug 474920

Summary:	xdg-open prefers vscode over dolphin
Product:	[Plasma] xdg-desktop-portal-kde	Reporter:	Thomas-Luke Duffin <thomaslukeduffin>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs>
Status:	RESOLVED DOWNSTREAM
Severity:	normal	CC:	4wy78uwh, aleixpol, jgrulich, nate
Priority:	NOR
Version:	5.27.7
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Neon
OS:	Linux
URL:	https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/114425
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Thomas-Luke Duffin 2023-09-26 21:42:09 UTC

SUMMARY
When VSCode is installed, it prepends itself to the `/usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache` file of the host/sandbox. On GNOME this seems to be handled fine, but on KDE and some other DE's this appears to cause apps leveraging xdg-open to prefer VSCode over Dolphin.

This manifests as either "open folder" buttons failing to launch any app at all (appearing broken) or opening VSCode instead of Dolphin/preferred file picker, which usually breaks application functionality.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Install VSCode on a KDE system.
2. Attempt to open a folder via an app that relies on xdg-portals. (2 examples are gdlauncher and prism launcher if you're in your bi-annual Minecraft phase like I am)

OBSERVED RESULT

Nothing happens, or VSCode launches.

Using `journalctl -f` you can observe failed launches of vscode. Appears that these happen mainly when VSCode is installed as a Snap (And possibly Flatpak but I didn't check)

EXPECTED RESULT

Dolphin opens.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS

Operating System: KDE neon 5.27
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.8
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.110.0
Qt Version: 5.15.10
Kernel Version: 6.2.0-33-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 4600H with Radeon Graphics
Memory: 22.8 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
Manufacturer: Acer
Product Name: Nitro AN515-44
System Version: V1.04

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Issue on VSCode's repo:
https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/114425

The maintainers seem to believe they're doing what is believed to be standard practice when it comes to setting mimetypes. It could be that KDE and other distros are parsing this file incorrectly (or GNOME is doing it wrong and everyone has just assumed the outliers are wrong). Though I'm speculating on all fronts.

As a suggestion, Plasma could do more to suggest which app should be used to attempt to open an xdg-mimetype when multiple apps are available like Android does. Right now, this is something only available in Dolphin via the "Open with..." dialog, but making this a cross-system option would help with UX in these fiddly edge-cases.

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2023-09-28 19:08:17 UTC

What does `xdg-mime query default inode/directory` run in a terminal window print out?

Can you attach your fill /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache file?

I strongly suspect they're *prepending* their app ID to the inode/directory= key in that file, rather than *appending* to it, as they should.

Comment 2 Roke Julian Lockhart Beedell 2023-09-28 22:54:49 UTC

I'd like to note that this issue disappeared for me after a reboot.

Comment 3 Thomas-Luke Duffin 2023-09-29 20:57:26 UTC

(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> What does `xdg-mime query default inode/directory` run in a terminal window
> print out?
> 
> Can you attach your fill /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache file?
> 
> I strongly suspect they're *prepending* their app ID to the inode/directory=
> key in that file, rather than *appending* to it, as they should.

https://gist.github.com/TDuffinNTU/1685cfd2727b88e3c5ccc9bfdfeb65ee

That is exactly what happened when I installed VSCode, as shown from the mimeinfo.cache I've linked above (line 262). The issue resolved itself once I moved the "code.desktop" entry to the end of the list. However, if I revert the change (Which causes the issue to start again) running `xdg-mime query default inode/directory` *still* returns org.Kde.Dolphin :/

There's a lot more discussion that might be helpful as part of the github issue that also might help give some extra context

If you check the link I provided in "Additional Details" in the original ticket, the VSCode contributors seem to be unsure what the best practice is. It might be worth replying there to add your input as they were looking for people with domain experience with this.

Comment 4 Nate Graham 2023-10-11 17:05:45 UTC

Thanks, I'll follow up there.

Comment 5 Nate Graham 2024-09-19 20:06:50 UTC

*** Bug 438006 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***