Using the desktop's "Application Launcher" functionality, which is founded in "Mouse Actions" within Desktop Folder Settings, it used to be able to launch programs just fine. Now, it cannot. Instead, it launches Kate text editor opening up the .desktop file for the application I was trying to open.

This bug can break a users desktop if they rely on this Application Launcher functionality based on their customization but I do have a dedicated application menu widget that works fine so it isn't as big of a deal for me but it is still annoying and would much prefer for it to be fixed. While the bug persists, the Application Launcher functionality for the desktop is useless.