Arch Linux

crispane

Member

Registered: 2020-03-09

Posts: 6

Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

As a result I have the application and terminal running at the same time which is mildly annoying. In general what makes applications visible in DEs ?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,343

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

The fact that they have a .desktop file at the correct location makes them visible to application launchers, which is the case here, so what does "only runs from terminal" mean exactly?

crispane

Member

Registered: 2020-03-09

Posts: 6

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

It means it can run only by typing $ spyder in the terminal but its not even visible in application launchers. (i.e pressing super and typing spyder in gnome).
Thx for the lead about desktop entries. I wonder why it doesn't create one when it gets installed since its a desktop application.
EDIT: I tried installing anaconda from AUR and official repos with the same result.

Last edited by crispane (2020-04-08 14:44:28)

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,016

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

It means it can run only by typing $ spyder in the terminal but its not even visible in application launchers. (i.e pressing super and typing spyder in gnome).
Thx for the lead about desktop entries. I wonder why it doesn't create one when it gets installed since its a desktop application.

As V1del noted the spyder package does provide a desktop file.

pacman -F /usr/share/applications/spyder.desktop
usr/share/applications/spyder.desktop is owned by community/spyder 3.3.6-2

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,343

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

It should appear in the applications list, it does so here. Unless you aren't talking about the spyder in the repositories, in which case you should probably elaborate why you aren't using it from the repositories and what you installed instead.

If these aren't the case then maybe your session is borked. How do you start gnome? What's your

printenv
systemctl status

(post that in [ code ] [ /code ] tags without the spaces)

PS: There is usually little to no reason to use anaconda, most of the packages available through it exist in the repositories and are properly integrated into the rest of the system. If you really think you must use anaconda ALWAYS ensure you are running it capsuled within the conda wrapper environment

crispane

Member

Registered: 2020-03-09

Posts: 6

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

It means it can run only by typing $ spyder in the terminal but its not even visible in application launchers. (i.e pressing super and typing spyder in gnome).
Thx for the lead about desktop entries. I wonder why it doesn't create one when it gets installed since its a desktop application.

As V1del noted the spyder package does provide a desktop file.

pacman -F /usr/share/applications/spyder.desktop
usr/share/applications/spyder.desktop is owned by community/spyder 3.3.6-2

Its not there for me, i can only find

 ~/anaconda3/share/applications/spyder3.desktop 

I tried copying the file to usr/share/applications but it doesn't work. Will try to figure this out. Thanks.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 19,016

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

Its not there for me, i can only find

 ~/anaconda3/share/applications/spyder3.desktop 

I tried copying the file to usr/share/applications but it doesn't work. Will try to figure this out. Thanks.

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57855 a desktop entry was not created or the entry did not work?

pacman -Qikk spyder

crispane

Member

Registered: 2020-03-09

Posts: 6

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

It should appear in the applications list, it does so here. Unless you aren't talking about the spyder in the repositories, in which case you should probably elaborate why you aren't using it from the repositories and what you installed instead.

If these aren't the case then maybe your session is borked. How do you start gnome? What's your

printenv
systemctl status

(post that in [ code ] [ /code ] tags without the spaces)

PS: There is usually little to no reason to use anaconda, most of the packages available through it exist in the repositories and are properly integrated into the rest of the system. If you really think you must use anaconda ALWAYS ensure you are running it capsuled within the conda wrapper environment

I follow a course on machine learning and python, that proposed anaconda. At first I tried with the packages in the arch repos without installing anaconda but I got errors when running some exercises and thought I was missing smthing. Tried anaconda from AUR but had the problem with the desktop entries. Hence I tried anaconda from official repos but still the same. Nevermind though, too much trouble for a minor issue. I will try removing anaconda and just install spyder from arch repos. Thanks!

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,343

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

That depends, if your course is stingy with only specific version numbers being supported/allowed it might be easier to use anaconda for this, but you'd want to write a wrapper script that does

conda activate
spyder
conda deactivate

and replace the desktop file's exec line with the path to that script (you might be able to use the already provided .desktop file without adjustment, however I don't know how far anaconda goes in ensuring the env is properly set up for every little tool included) and install the relevantly adjusted desktop file: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … stallation

However there is no anaconda in the official repositories, what exactly are you running?

crispane

Member

Registered: 2020-03-09

Posts: 6

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

However there is no anaconda in the official repositories, what exactly are you running?

Sorry I meant official ANACONDA repos not Arch's.

So if I understand correctly a wrapper isolates the installed packages and does not install anything outside its own directory. And this is why the desktop file is not present.

Albatty

Member

Registered: 2021-03-18

Posts: 1

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

To run the anaconda version of spyder, your .desktop file needs:

 Exec=/home/username/anaconda3/bin/spyder 

and possibly

 Icon=/home/username//anaconda3/share/icons/spyder.png 

The TryExec line can be the same as the Exec line or you can remove it.

The rest of .desktop file in /home/username/anaconda3/share/applications is fine and you can copy it in your /home/username/.local/share/applications

2ManyDogs

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2012-01-15

Posts: 4,648

Re: Spyder runs only from terminal. How to make it available from desktop?

crispane has not been back to the forum since October 2020, so I am going to consider this thread abandoned and close it.

crispane, if you come back and want this thread reopened, use the Report link to notify staff.