Arch Linux

arunvragh

Member

Registered: 2007-04-17

Posts: 111

LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

I am using LXDE/Openbox with Firefox 3.2 A.

I am unable to set system wide browser as firefox-nightly. I have been able to do it in Individual applcations like Claws-Mail, limewire etc but for instance if I click the menu heading 'Manage Printing' no browser is invoked. Any way to correct this? I am on Arch 64

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

I have no idea if this is going to work, or if it's going to help you with xdg-open (which is what's launching "manage printing", but you could try xdg-mime from xdg-utils. Assuming that the executable is still called 'firefox':

xdg-mime default firefox text/html

It's recommended not to do this as root.

arunvragh

Member

Registered: 2007-04-17

Posts: 111

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

This did not work. It has to be 'xdg-mime default firefox-nightly.desktop text/html'

Did as root. Restarted. No go

Tks anyway

arunvragh

Member

Registered: 2007-04-17

Posts: 111

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

I did it by modifying the cups.desktop file in /usr/share/applications (Manage Printing) and changing the exec string to firefox-nightly instead of xdg-open

Is it solved or not as it is still only one issue sorted out.

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

I did it by modifying the cups.desktop file in /usr/share/applications (Manage Printing) and changing the exec string to firefox-nightly instead of xdg-open

Is it solved or not as it is still only one issue sorted out.

It needs to be run as a regular user, not as root. The xdg stuff is user dependent.

I have a question about this. Does the version of FF that you're running have a desktop file in /usr/share/applications? I believe that xdg pulls from the information there.

I really want to find the correct solution to this. When xdg problems arise here, it never seems like people are finding the easy solution. Even on my end, I'm using obm-xdg to have automatically created menus, and I have applications that show up only in Spanish; A language that I don't have enabled.

Nezmer

Member

Registered: 2008-10-24

Posts: 559

Website

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

Did you try adding 'export BROWSER="firefox"' to your .bashrc (or whatever you use for exports) .

You might need to log out completely and then log in to see the effect .

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English is not my native language .

Falcata

Member

From: Michiana

Registered: 2008-01-23

Posts: 501

Website

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

Not meaning to necropost, but I'd just like to point out for anyone who happens across this forum thread that Nezmer's suggestion works :-)

Though, I had done it using google chrome, by setting the BROWSER variable to "/usr/bin/google-chrome"

Last edited by Falcata (2010-01-13 22:13:02)

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Lord of Maelstrom

fitzhugh

Member

Registered: 2010-02-27

Posts: 1

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

ha, never heard of necroposting, but I'm joining you to thank you for doing so... this solved my problem too. I would have missed this if you hadn't bumped it.

curtlee2002

Member

Registered: 2010-04-14

Posts: 4

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

This is the correct way to change it.

run as root
# update-alternatives --config x-www-browser

http://wiki.lxde.org/en/LXDE:Questions

Last edited by curtlee2002 (2010-04-14 00:43:53)

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,607

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

'update-alternatives' is a Debian (and I suppose Ubuntu) specific thingy, it's not applicable to other distros.

darkhan

Member

Registered: 2015-03-28

Posts: 4

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

This is late but I had the same problem. I got mine working using xdg-mime but I had to add it to my login script. Better solution was using lxsession-default-apps command and changing the apps from there.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,543

Website

Re: LXDE/Openbox how to set default browser

Welcome to the forms darkhan, and thanks for the input on this issue.  But please keep an eye on thread dates - this thread is over 7 years old.  Much has changed in that time, and I'm pretty sure the OP is no longer looking for a solution.

Closed.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman