GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 478806
Adding stuff to autostart is too difficult
Last modified: 2014-03-05 11:38:55 UTC
This bug has been filled here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-session/+bug/140918 "Getting stuff added to autostart is much too difficult. First of all, guessing that it's in System->Settings->Sessions is not very obvious. Second of all, actually adding stuff to the list is close to impossible if you're not familiar with the layout of the Linux filesystem. Possible solutions in order of preference: 1) Add it to the context menu in the gnome menu. If a program is set to autostart, make this obvious by putting a tiny emblem of some sort in its menu entry. 2) Add a new (sucks, I know) entry to the system->settings menu called "Autostart" or something. In there, present the list of stuff that's in the gnome menu and put a checkbox next to each entry to make it start automatically. 3) Keep the tab in the gnome-session-preferences, and replace the current "Add" dialog with a widget that allows you to select a program from the gnome menu and hide the "Add" dialog under some sort of "Advanced" thing."
Yep, this would be nice. I support a lot of users, this is one of the most common problems. Another possibility would be drag&drop of starters out of the applications menu into the autostart settings. But option three looks like the most intuitive way.
Two things that could be done within the current UI is: 1) Allow a launcher to be dropped on the dialog (could be dragged from panel, desktop or menu). This would at least save the user from having to guess the command name (and parameters, if any) aswell as writing name + comment. 2) Add a "Select Program" expander or dialog which brings up something similar to what you get when you add a launcher to the panel. It should basically contain a treeview or similar with all the launchers from the gnome menu.
1) actually works in the current incarnation of the session capplet, it appears.
*** Bug 148962 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 559540 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 493816 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
this is actually partially fixed now. the menu item (at least in ubuntu) is now called "Startup Applications". however, what is really needed to make it more usable is to make use of the fancy/user-friendly nautilus "open with" dialog. is the api for that exposed? see ubuntu bug for further discussion: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-session/+bug/140918
Yes, in GTK 3 the following api could be used. See: http://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/3.0/GtkAppChooser.html and http://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/3.0/GtkAppChooserDialog.html
gnome-session-properties is no longer included in gnome-session.