kde3 apps can't find kfmclient

[Mitch Golden]

Binary package hint: kdebase

This bug is closely related to two already filed. One is https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/amarok/+bug/120006 which is the specific problem of being unable to open konqueror from amarok in Intrepid. The other is https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdelibs/+bug/310135 which is the same sort of bug, but for khelpcenter. The overall problem is that because there are two different directories /usr/share/applications/kde and /usr/share/applications/kde4, there are also two sycoca files. Therefore, since kfmclient is only built in kde4 and the associated .desktop files are only in the kde4 directory, no kde3 apps can find it. Since there are likely to be at least some kde3 apps in some form for at least a while yet, this problem should be rectified in general. It will go away in Amarok once that is ported to kde4, so it is not appropriate to file this bug under Amarok.

In other words:

In Intrepid,
Open a KDE3 app (such as digiKam or Amarok)
On the menu bar, select Help, then About digiKam
In the popup, click on the URL http://www.digikam.org

What should happen:
Konqueror should open the URL

What does happen:
An error, "Unable to find service 'kfmclient'"

The solution is to create a symlink from /usr/share/applications/kde/kfmclient.desktop to /usr/share/applications/kde4/kfmclient.desktop (and _dir _html _war as well). I have created a patch for kde4libs and kdebase that will create these, and create a symbol for anyone building kde4 apps who wants to put symlinks in for other applications as well. (This may be useful for khelpcenter, in bug 310135, though it appears that issue was solved a different way.)

[Mitch Golden (mgolden)]

Sorry, uploaded the wrong file a moment ago, here is the correct kdebase.patch file

[Mitch Golden (mgolden)]

And here is the kde4libs patch file

[Mitch Golden (mgolden)]

Following a recommendation from ScottK on IRC, I have subscribed ubuntu-main-sponsors to this bug. In case it was unclear above, the second patch file is not for the project kdebase, it is for kde4libs.

[Bo Thorsen (bo.thorsen)]

In Jaunty, this seem to work. In my KDE 3.5 based Konversation, the help viewer is from KDE 4.2, so there is no problem. In fact, I can't choose to have the KDE 3.5 based khelpcenter.

[Bo Thorsen (bo.thorsen)]

This bug is no longer valid because the KDE 3 based apps left in Jaunty uses the KDE 4 based khelpcenter, and this has no problems accessing links.

Bug closed in agreement with Jonathan Riddell.