Arch Linux

zw

Member

Registered: 2022-05-31

Posts: 18

Default browser is Firefox binary; Thunderbird opens links in Flatpak

I have Firefox installed as a Flatpak and as a binary:

~> flatpak list
Firefox                  org.mozilla.firefox                  104.0.2  stable     system
~> pacman -Q firefox
firefox 105.0.1-1

In general, I use the binary version, and the Flatpak version has a separate profile that I use to containerize social media sites, etc. It is obvious which version is active because they have different themes.

I would like the binary version to be my default link handler. I am using Xfce v4.16 as my desktop environment, and have chosen the Firefox binary in Default Applications as my default web browser. This has the desired effect—clicking a link in an application or on menu → Web Browser opens the Firefox binary—everywhere except in Thunderbird. If I click a link embedded in an email, it opens in the Flatpak version of Firefox.

How can I tell Thunderbird to use the binary version of Firefox for link handling?

dogknowsnx

Member

Registered: 2021-04-12

Posts: 652

Re: Default browser is Firefox binary; Thunderbird opens links in Flatpak

What's the output of

echo $PATH

?

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zw

Member

Registered: 2022-05-31

Posts: 18

Re: Default browser is Firefox binary; Thunderbird opens links in Flatpak

Nothing Firefox-related in $PATH, unfortunately(?):

~> echo $PATH
/home/zw/.local/bin /home/zw/.local/share/gem/ruby/3.0.0/bin /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/bin /usr/bin /usr/bin/site_perl /usr/bin/vendor_perl /usr/bin/core_perl

This seems unlikely to be the cause of the problem, because the binary is in /usr/bin (on my path), whereas the Flatpak is in /var/... (not on my path):

~> whereis firefox
firefox: /usr/bin/firefox /usr/lib/firefox
~> flatpak info --show-location org.mozilla.firefox
/var/lib/flatpak/app/org.mozilla.firefox/x86_64/stable/...

Also:

~> xdg-settings get default-web-browser
firefox.desktop

Last edited by zw (2022-09-29 14:16:41)

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 58,267

Re: Default browser is Firefox binary; Thunderbird opens links in Flatpak

https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop- … issues/648
"export GTK_USE_PORTAL=0" to at least thunderbird might help or configure a specific binary, eg. https://www.lifewire.com/change-the-def … rd-2532751 (I don't use TB, so I've no idea whether that works)

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Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 12,893

Re: Default browser is Firefox binary; Thunderbird opens links in Flatpak

The instructions there are for TB 91.10 , for thunderbird 102.3.0-1  on archlinux use :

menu > edit > settings > general
scroll down to the bottom of the page adn click 'config efitor'

The rest of the lifewire article appears to still be valid.

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