xdg-open does not seem to handle magnet links

[karl anliot]

i'm running precise 12.04
expected behavior is to open magnet links in a bittorrent client.

on Lubuntu, the actual behavior is to open another chromium window when clicking the link.

$ dpkg -I xdg-utils
dpkg-deb: error: failed to read archive `xdg-utils': No such file or directory
anliot@6002:~/pcman/pcmanfm-0.9.10$ man dpkg
anliot@6002:~/pcman/pcmanfm-0.9.10$ dpkg -s xdg-utils
Package: xdg-utils
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: utils
Installed-Size: 316
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <email address hidden>
Architecture: all
Version: 1.1.0~rc1-2ubuntu6

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: xdg-utils 1.1.0~rc1-2ubuntu6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-14.23-generic 3.2.3
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-14-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 1.91-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Feb 14 20:01:02 2012
Dependencies:

InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" - Alpha amd64 (20120205)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xdg-utils
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[karl anliot (kanliot)]

http://www.void.gr/kargig/blog/2012/01/24/open-magnet-urls-with-xdg-open/

seems to be a fix?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Damian (daimonpoland)]

Anyway fix provided in URL is a bit intrusive. Shouldn't it be handled by package update?

[Cristiano Fraga G. Nunes (cfgnunes)]

I found a workaround in file: /usr/bin/xdg-open
See: http://www.foresightlinux.se/make-chromium-to-open-magnet-links/

PS: In Lubuntu, this script access the line of file:
else DE=""

[Guilherme Barile (guigouz)]

The workaround presented by Cristiano Nunes still depends on gnome-open and hacks the detect_de function on xdg-open so it treats any window manager as gnome.

xdg-utils_1.1.0~rc1+git20111210 from debian sid fixes the problem with generic window managers, a simple dpkg-rebuildpackage resolved the issue (the original debian package may install without modifications, haven't tested it)

[John Bowman (johnrbowman)]

I can confirm that this bug is still present in 13.04, and that as guigouz said, the debian sid package fixes the problem. (I am using a generic window manager - fluxbox.) I can't check the status of the package in 13.10 right now.

[sirre (sirre)]

This bug is still present in Lubuntu 13.10.

[camelon (bul-komorowski)]

I've got similar problem on Xubuntu 14.10 when using Chromium: click on magnet link opens Firefox window which (correctly) opens torrent client (Transmission). I found a solution:

'xdg-open' script incorrectly recognises Xfce4 desktop in 'detectDE()' function (very old code?), which makes that 'open_generic()' is used instead of 'open_xfce()'. The code below works much better:

detectDE()
{
    if [ x"$KDE_FULL_SESSION" = x"true" ]; then DE=kde;
    elif [ x"$GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID" != x"" ]; then DE=gnome;
    elif `dbus-send --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.DBus /org/freedesktop/DBus org.freedesktop.DBus.GetNameOwner string:org.gnome.SessionManager > /dev/null 2>&1` ; then DE=gnome;
    elif [ x"$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP" = x"XFCE" ]; then DE=xfce;
    elif [ x"$DESKTOP_SESSION" = x"LXDE" ]; then DE=lxde;
    else DE=""
    fi
}