Permission denied even with sudo | Linux Mint Community🍵 | Page 1

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:03 PM

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I'm trying to do a simple copy of contents of one file to another and I'm getting permission denied even with sudo? I'm in /usr/local/share/applications if that makes a difference. The command I'm trying to run is sudo cat Gale.desktop > Obsidian.desktop. Also attempted with >>. Output is: bash: Obsidian.desktop: Permission denied

Also inexplicably my file browser stopped displaying file extensions as part of file names on this reboot. ls shows obsidian.desktop but my file browser shows Obsidian? idk wtf is happening. I've done all this in this directory before and it was definitely not like this. I can't even delete files here.

Ok a further update: I deleted a file from the terminal and it was successful. File browser still displays it even after closing and reopening it.

Rebooted and now successfully deleted a file here. I still feel like I'm losing my mind, please help lol

And now I've made my desktop file through other methods, run update-desktop-database and the entry simply isn't showing up. The .desktop file is set up the same as other working ones

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:31 PM

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For the "extension" thing, it's because the file browser automaticaly interpret content of .desktop files then shows the "Name" variable (as written in the .desktop file) instead of the real file name.
For the permission problem, I don't know, maybe a problem with the '>' operator, more than a true permission problem

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Also take care that Linux is case sensitive, maybe your "permission" issue has something to do with that...

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:34 PM

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perhaps the > or >> operation is run as your user. Use tee: cat ... | sudo tee /path/to/destination.desktop

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tee reads from stdin and writes to the file path supplied, the pipe redirects cat's output to tee's stdin

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:36 PM

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ah ok. I had tried tee but didn't realize I needed sudo after the pipe.

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Any thoughts on the fact that the desktop entry is not showing up now?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:37 PM

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log out

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log back in

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Cinnamon updates the menu entries every time it initializes

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or when you do update-desktop-database

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:37 PM

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I thought update-desktop-database was supposed to handle that

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:37 PM

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yes

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:37 PM

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yeah. i did that. will try logging out now though

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:38 PM

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vital anchor Any thoughts on the fact that the desktop entry is not showing up now?

bad syntax (empty ?)...

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:38 PM

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main pawn bad syntax (empty ?)...

nope. cat obsidian.md reports

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;
Comment=Obsidian
Exec=/home/maeve/Applications/Obsidian.AppImage
StartupWMClass=obsidian
Icon=/home/maeve/desktop-entries/obsidian.png
Name=Obsidian
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/obsidian;```

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brb relog

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:39 PM

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What's stopping you from using the distro package or the Flatpak?

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:39 PM

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.md ?

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:39 PM

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no dice

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:39 PM

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entries should end in .desktop

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:40 PM

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yea that was an error only in discord message

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:40 PM

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The goal is to create a new menu entry ?

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:40 PM

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yup. i've done it with other applications in the exact same way

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:41 PM

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do sudo mv /usr/share/applications/[entryfile] /home/$USER/.local/share/applications

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iirc that's where custom ones are kept

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in /usr/share/applications only system ones are kept

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:41 PM

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There is a Menu editor you know ? Also, I checed, I don't have usr/share/applications directory on my system...

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:41 PM

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sonic holly What's stopping you from using the distro package or the Flatpak?

i had the flatpak before but I've been moving things to AppImage with .desktop files because flatpak feels like a black box to me and I don't like that

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:42 PM

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sonic holly in /usr/share/applications only system ones are kept

ooh okay

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I'll give this a go

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:42 PM

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sonic holly in /usr/share/applications only system ones are kept

its /usr/share/applications not /usr/local/share/applications

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maybe the permission problem come from that mistake ?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:43 PM

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vital anchor i had the flatpak before but I've been moving things to AppImage with .desktop f...

is it the permissions thing?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:43 PM

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main pawn its `/usr/share/applications` not `/usr/local/share/applications`

note the /home/$USER path

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:43 PM

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sonic holly note the /home/$USER path

in yours yes, but I mean, look at the OP first message

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:44 PM

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sonic holly do `sudo mv /usr/share/applications/[entryfile] /home/$USER/.local/share/applica...

ew, this directory is full of stuff that other applicaitons have put in it. I'd like somewhere clean that only I touch if that's possible

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:45 PM

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vital anchor ew, this directory is full of stuff that other applicaitons have put in it. I'd ...

nope. That's where .desktop entries are stored

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:45 PM

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will it still work from a subdirectory?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:45 PM

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probably not

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i don't think Cinnamon devs would bother to implement recursive scanning for something that simple

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:46 PM

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keeping track of installed software feels like such a mess on linux. i'm glad to be off windows but this is ridiculous

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:47 PM

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that's why package managers exist

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:47 PM

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so many directories to achieve the same things, it feels like

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:47 PM

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vital anchor keeping track of installed software feels like such a mess on linux. i'm glad to...

apt / package manager tells you what is installed

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however I don't know where it put flatpacks

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:48 PM

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flatpak app data is stored at /home/$USER/.var/

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Mint installs flatpaks system-wide so binaries themselves are around the root filesystem

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:49 PM

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vital anchor so many directories to achieve the same things, it feels like

/usr/share/applications is for system apps only, it shouldn't be touched. While /home/$USER/.local/share/applications contains custom ones that apps are instructed to write to

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it is simple organization

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it does create confusion at first

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:50 PM

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sonic holly /usr/share/applications is for system apps only, it shouldn't be touched. While ...

I wasn't in /usr/share/applications, I was in /usr/local/share/applications. not sure if that makes a difference.

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:51 PM

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vital anchor I wasn't in /usr/share/applications, I was in /usr/local/share/applications. not...

i think it does?

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i don't have a linux filesystem reference atm

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i'm on my phone

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:51 PM

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All /usr is system-wide by definition, not intended to be "customized"...

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:52 PM

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but anyways, did you move the .desktop file to the directory in home?

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:52 PM

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but now obsidian.desktop is in /home/$USER/.local/share/applications. I ran update-desktop-database and its still not showing up. guess i'll relog again. but this doesn't make sense. other desktop files in /usr/loca/share/applications worked, why wouldn't this one?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:53 PM

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maybe even reboot

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:53 PM

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(why not using the Menu Editor, which exist for that purpose ?)

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:53 PM

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main pawn (why not using the Menu Editor, which exist for that purpose ?)

menu editor? rebooting brb

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:53 PM

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main pawn (why not using the Menu Editor, which exist for that purpose ?)

learning how to do things the commandline way will help

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:54 PM

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sonic holly learning how to do things the commandline way will help

true... knowing that a GUI editor exists can save pain and time 😄

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:56 PM

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still no desktop entry

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:57 PM

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can you ls -a ~/.local/share/applications?

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:57 PM

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 .
 ..
 audacity-url-handler.desktop
'Baba Is You.desktop'
 defaults.list
'Dicey Dungeons.desktop'
 discord-402572971681644545.desktop
 discord-747154846817452045.desktop
 gale-handler.desktop
'Hardspace Shipbreaker.desktop'
 io.itch.itch.desktop
 Itch.cinnamon-generated.desktop
'Metal Hellsinger.desktop'
 mimeinfo.cache
 ModOrganizer-steamtinkerlaunch-dl.desktop-off
 net.lutris.battlenet-1.desktop
 obsidian.desktop
'Proton Experimental.desktop'
 steam.desktop
'Steam Linux Runtime 3.0 (sniper).desktop'
 Superflight.desktop
 userapp-audacity-linux-3.7.1-x64-20.04.AppImage-T3A5C3.desktop
'userapp-Firefox Developer Edition-UP9LQ2.desktop'
 userapp-MuseScore-Studio-4.5.2.251141401-x86_64.AppImage-TXQ1D3.desktop
'Vintage Story 1.21.6.desktop'
 Vintagestory_url_connect.desktop
 Vintagestory_url_mod.desktop
 vortex-steamtinkerlaunch-dl.desktop
 vortex-steamtinkerlaunch-dl.desktop-off
 wine
 wine-extension-application.desktop
 wine-extension-appref-ms.desktop
 wine-extension-chm.desktop
 wine-extension-hlp.desktop
 wine-extension-msp.desktop
 wine-extension-vbs.desktop
 wine-extension-xaml.desktop
 wine-extension-xbap.desktop
 wine-protocol-battlenet.desktop
 wine-protocol-blizzard.desktop
 wine-protocol-Blizzard.URI.Battlenet.desktop
 wine-protocol-Blizzard.URI.Blizzard.desktop
 wine-protocol-Blizzard.URI.Heroes.desktop
 wine-protocol-Blizzard.URI.SC2.desktop
 wine-protocol-heroes.desktop
 wine-protocol-mailto.desktop
 wine-protocol-starcraft.desktop```

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its such a mess

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 8:59 PM

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(I suggest visiting the Menu Editor... )

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:59 PM

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and the file browser doesn't recognize the desktop entry either. shows the filename unlike the other ones

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 8:59 PM

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now cat ~/.local/share/applications/obsidian.desktop

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 8:59 PM

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Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;
Comment=Obsidian
Exec=/home/maeve/Applications/Obsidian.AppImage
StartupWMClass=obsidian
Icon=/home/maeve/desktop-entries/obsidian.png
Name=Obsidian
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/obsidian;```

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 9:00 PM

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is the ending ';' in Categories normal ?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 9:00 PM

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Do Exec and Icon actually exist?

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 9:00 PM

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main pawn is the ending ';' in Categories normal ?

it is used as a separator for defining multiple ones

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not sure if trailing semicolon is fine though

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remove it to be sure

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 9:00 PM

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shoot I forgot to rename the appimage hold on

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 9:01 PM

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yes, but since it alone... but i don't know much the .desktop syntax

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 9:01 PM

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vital anchor shoot I forgot to rename the appimage hold on

makes sense now

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 9:02 PM

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it was both that and the semicolon. working now. semicolon came in the .desktop packaged inside the appimage, why'd they do me dirty like this 😭

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thanks y'all

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 9:03 PM

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(The Menu Editor prevent create launcher without valid Exec path)

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(you shoud take a look at the Menu Editor)

sonic holly Mar 3, 2026, 9:03 PM

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is it a built-in cinnamon tool?

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 9:03 PM

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oh i just remembered there's a desktop-file-validate command too

main pawn Mar 3, 2026, 9:03 PM

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sonic holly is it a built-in cinnamon tool?

yes

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right-click menu button > Edit Menu...

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if not in the menu, it may be in the first page of "Configure..."

vital anchor Mar 3, 2026, 9:05 PM

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oh ok. I won't be using that primarily but that's super nice to know about, thanks. was having trouble locating the files associated with some entries, and this does that

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also: confirming that a subdirectory does in fact work

#Permission denied even with sudo