Preferred applications setting does not work correctly

[Peter Thomassen]

I am using Linux Mint 13 RC with MATE. I believe that the "Preferred Applications" settings in the Control Center do not working correctly.

More precisely, I tried to switch the default browser to Chromium. For most cases, this works (for example, opening the default browser with a special keyboard shortcut). However, Thunderbird will continue to use Firefox to open links. Further investigation showed that ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list was not modified when I set the default browser (however, the modification time changes!). After changing this manually, Thunderbird behaves as expected.

Furthermore, if I select "Custom" for the browser setting, the corresponding fields to enter a command are not activated (they stay grayed out). The same is true for some of the other default applications (for example preferred text editor).

[Brian D (turbo)]

I concur.

I am running the Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon (32-bit) release on my netbook. I set the 'default application' for video files to 'VLC' instead of 'Movie Player'. My choice, in that control panel, is persistent, even between reboots... but it does not actually change the default application for video files to 'VLC'.

[Seth Massey (jsethmassey)]

Mint 13 Cinnamon 32bit. Nothing to add... bug desc says it all.

[smonsarr (smonsarr-junk)]

Same here:
Release: 13 (maya)
Edition: MATE 64-bit

None of the "Preferred Applications" are used across the board be it multimedia, browser, file manager, terminal etc.

[Julian Rüger (jr98)]

Probably another conflict with gnome 3.
I was just fiddling around with some gnome packages, and my mimeapps.list got messed up. Removed most of the gnome-stuff and had to do all the settings in mate's preferred applications tool (mate-default-applications-properties) again, but after this everything worked as expected.

[Huben Stoev (hubenss)]

Changing defaults to applications doesn't work too for me - MintDebian 2013RC Cinnamon

[Joseph Harriott (ttoirrah)]

Mint 15 MATE 64-bit for which Firefox is the default, but I set Chromium to be so in Preferred Applications.
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/https
both report back: chromium-browser.desktop which is as it should be, but links are opening from LibreOffice in Firefox.

gksudo pluma /etc/gnome/defaults.list
shows at the end of that file:
x-scheme-handler/http=firefox.desktop
so I replaced firefox with chromium:
x-scheme-handler/http=chromium.desktop
but still http links open in Firefox, so I give up for now...

[Gregoire Pineau (lyrixx)]

Same bug here. Bug for me, it is the opposite: I want firefox, bug i got chrome.

>[~] xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http
firefox.desktop
>[~] xdg-open http://google.fr
Created new window in existing browser session.

=> open google in chrome :(

[David Tomaschik (matir)]

In case this helps someone in the future: xdg-open thinks you're on gnome, so uses the gnome settings. I got the following:

% gvfs-mime --query x-scheme-handler/http
Default application for 'x-scheme-handler/http': firefox.desktop
Registered applications:
 firefox.desktop
 google-chrome-beta.desktop
Recommended applications:
 firefox.desktop
 google-chrome-beta.desktop

Fixed with:

% gvfs-mime --set x-scheme-handler/http google-chrome-beta.desktop
Set google-chrome-beta.desktop as the default for x-scheme-handler/http

% gvfs-mime --set x-scheme-handler/https google-chrome-beta.desktop
Set google-chrome-beta.desktop as the default for x-scheme-handler/https

[ALinuxUser (buntulongername-new)]

Perhaps I miss something, but it seems to me to be near-critical that something as fundamental as this should work.

I note that it is unclear how to adapt the workaround posted by David above such that it allows one to e.g. change the default image viewer.

I note also that even the program Ubuntu-Tweak is unable (on my Mint 17.3 x64 Cinnamon computer) to change the default viewer for jpg images.

[Edmund (edmundzed)]

OK we are now on Mint 18 and the problems of Mint 13 are still not solved???
I selected CLAWS as my preferred email prog but when I click a email freaking thuderbird opens.

Shall we ditch the bugs reporting if noone cares about it anyway?

Edmund